Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

GREED - All mine

“Oh, yes, yes, YES!!!”

The world seemed to morph around you as dozens of infinitely long, golden arms wound themselves tightly around your comparatively smaller frame. You could hear a gasp off to the side as your only companion in this entire mess took a step back, unwilling, unable to do anything to save you.

“I can’t believe it… after all this time… after all that effort…”

You tried to keep your eyes open to stare your foe in the face. It was hard, fighting the urge to sleep and never wake up, as you felt those greedy hands hungrily press themselves against you, as if making sure you were really theirs. When you saw that faceless, spherical head come into view, peering at you as if you were an object to be possessed, you almost wanted to give in.

I can’t.

“...You’re finally MINE! All MINE! The master of a thousand hands, and yet all I had were dime a dozen trinkets… Material items really lose their meaning after you get the first few thousand.”

Greed giggled as it pulled you closer, the hole in its face becoming wider and wider as it looked you up and down. You could feel the triumphant glee roiling off of it in waves, and it sickened and terrified you.

“But you! You’re special! So special! I’ve seen your penchant for greed! That hunger for more, more money, more knowledge, more strength, more POWER! It’s so… exhilarating. Delicious. I could subsist off of that alone, but that wasn’t just what made you special.”

A few hands began to sift through you, searching your belongings as they swatted aside your items without a care in the world. A part of you wondered why the literal embodiment of Greed wouldn’t want to take your stuff when it had the perfect opportunity to do so.

But deep down, you knew that it had much more valuable targets in mind.

“Aha! Found it~!”

The blood in your veins froze as you felt the metallic clang on the floor resonate across the room. Your body felt just a little lighter. Your soul, on the other hand, felt the weight of all your mistakes as you knew what this would all lead up to.

“You… you’re powerful. Resourceful, intelligent, and you’ve got the guts to actually get all of this!”

Greed vibrated in pure ecstasy as two of its hands held up the swords you collected on your journey. Sickly green and light blue stood out in the darkness of your mind, and the swords almost seemed to be glowing as golden hands caressed them lovingly, in awe of the sheer power they possessed.

“You have the  s w o r d s .  You- you actually have two of the swords! I can’t believe it! I can’t believe that chicken hat-wearing idiot entrusted you to fetch them!”

It slowly looked away from the swords to turn its attention towards you.

“But… looking at it now… I can’t blame him, can I? You’re the only one with the will to take them by any means necessary for your own benefit. He saw that in you, saw the endless craving for more in your soul. He thought he could use you. He thought you were his .”

Greed leaned in, placing a hand on your head to feel your hair. It didn’t seem to care about the despairing look on your face, or the way that you were as limp as a ragdoll the whole time it was monologuing. But, why would it?

All that mattered was that you now belonged to it.

“But now? Now, you’re MINE. And I won’t let the others TAKE YOU AWAY FROM ME! I won you, fair and square! I TOOK you fair and square!!!”

Suddenly, its head snapped off to the side, its hands abruptly lowering you to the ground as the hole in its face shrunk into a small black dot in a sea of gold. You strained to turn your head in the same direction Greed was looking at, and the sight before you gave a painful reminder of what was at stake. Of what you had failed in your defeat.

Builderman was frozen to the spot mid-stride, having been caught trying to make a run for it during its insane ramblings. The man met you- no, met your captor’s gaze, giving a nervous, strained grin as he began to sweat bullets.

“And you. You aren’t going anywhere, hohohoho, no you aren’t!”

Golden hands sprung out of the pitch black ground, their large, grasping fingers splayed out as they slammed down onto Builderman. Unexpectedly, Builderman pulled out a thin, crimson sword, quickly cutting its limbs into ribbons before it could reach him.

So he could have defended himself all this time. So then why didn’t he…?

Greed growled in mild irritation, summoning more hands from the darkness around you three as it slowly advanced towards Builderman. “B-Builderman,” you shouted, “put it to sl-”

You were cut off as a scribbly hand slapped onto your mouth, sticking onto the skin and muffling your desperate attempts to help.

“Why don’t you get out of that shell, buddy? It’s so obvious how uncomfortable it is for you to wear…”

Builderman’s eyes widened as more hands emerged from Greed’s back. Slowly, he held the sword up in a stance, trying to keep up a brave face as he fought on alone.

If you squinted, you could see that the sword had little to no details on it. It looked fuzzy and seemed to move in your fellow prisoner’s hand.

Almost… like…

A pair of hands shot out from Builderman’s left and right, forcing him to do a spin to cut them both down in one swing. He quickly planted his feet, arresting his angular momentum as he looked around in anticipation for the next attack.

Greed sighed as the golden confetti that used to be its arms fell to the ground.

“Alright, enough of this!”

Four arms appeared simultaneously around Builderman. Two on the walls, two from the ground. The man jolted and swung wildly at them, managing to cut two down while the others tried to smack him from different directions.

Your heart stopped as one of the attacks connected, the hand sticking to Builderman like it was made out of tree sap, never letting go despite his struggles. N-no! You can’t!

Then, to your surprise, your companion burned a deep, foreboding red, scorching the hand and causing the parts touching him to turn red and fall away like ashes in the wind. Your surprise was quickly replaced with relief as Builderman swung behind him, cutting the last hand to ribbons as the aura faded from his body.

“You’re not even trying to be subtle about it anymore, are you? If that’s how it’s gonna be, then let me help you TAKE THE MASK OFF!”

“Mmf!”

You gasped as Greed plunged the Ice Dagger into Builderman’s chest, its many hands wrapping around him and pulling him close to its diminutive body as it brought its face next to his head. Builderman dropped the crimson sword in his hand, the ghostly blade disappearing into red wisps as the strength faded from his body.

He went limp. You failed him. All this trouble, all that effort, only to be bound and forced to watch as the embodiment of insatiable want inside your heart stabbed Builderman in his.

Pathetic.

No… NO!!!

You hung your head as low as you could, closing your eyes as a deep sense of shame weighed on your soul. You were an idiot for letting this happen.

Still, even as it plunged the dagger deeper into the man’s chest, Greed continued to stare at his empty, lifeless face expectantly, as if he wasn’t literally dead in both worlds as a result of its actions.

…Builderman’s body wasn’t freezing over as you had previously expected. And the Ice Dagger had been stuck in his chest for several seconds now.

…could it b-

“AAAAAARGGGHHHH!”

You and Greed flinched back as one as the limp figure in his arms came back to life. It jerked erratically, grasping at the arms wrapped around it and burning them in more of that unholy, foreboding red flame.

Builderman gasped, panting for air like a dying man as his hand grasped the Ice Dagger in his chest, crushing the golden digits wrapped around its hilt without any effort whatsoever. Then, his head snapped at an impossible angle to glare at Greed, causing you to freeze as the previously-fearless, triumphant flaw took a cautious step back.

His eyes glowed red. His mouth frowned hard enough to split the skin at the end of his lips open.

“HOW.  D A R E .  Y O U .”

The two of you could hear the sickening pops and cracks of bones twisting out of shape as Builderman hunched over, coughing up something that was too crimson in color to be blood while simultaneously trying to scream in rage.

…rage.

The pieces clicked into place at the same time that he looked up to meet your eyes. Oh, fuck, you thought, seeing them gleam an intense, dangerous red.

With a shout, the man’s limbs tore themselves from their sockets. Deep, red veins connected them still as the mutilated form of Builderman stood up to its full height. After a few more seconds, what remained of his body was torn open from the inside, forced apart by something that was dark and red.

It stared at you and Greed, claws curling into fists as its long, curled tail flapped angrily behind it.

“I  W I L L  N O T  B E  D E N I E D  B Y  Y O U .  Y O U  D O  N O T  S E E M  T O  U N D E R S T A N D ,”

Greed let out a shocked gasp as the thing that used to be Builderman tore its own head open, revealing a gaping maw, frothing like a mad dog. An orb of corruption shot out of its mouth, narrowly missing the other emotion as it sidestepped the attack.

“T H E Y .”

Another orb shot out, being intercepted by a web of golden hands clasped together in the form of a shield. The orb destroyed itself against the hands, tearing the flimsy appendages apart at the same time.

“A R E .”

The third orb struck Greed, eliciting a genuine cry of pain — unlike when you attacked it — from the emotion and sending it to the floor in a heap.

It didn’t even bask in its imminent victory, instead changing shape to resemble an ominous tower with an eye and two prongs at the top. Static built up between the sharp ends of its head.

“M I N E !”

Despair weighed on your heart. This was, without a doubt, getting even worse. Your failure hadn’t just doomed you, it had doomed everyone. If it took over, nobody you knew would be spared…

You heard a small clang beside you. Unless…?

You craned your head, noticing one of Greed’s hands moving beside you. It was holding the Ghostwalker…?

A clap of thunder echoed around the room. Lightning crashed into the emotion’s prone form. Then, the tower transformed back into a demon, slowly walking over to the motionless flaw.

Suddenly, Greed sprung back to life, wrapping its arms around your HATRED, restraining it easily as it attempted to recoil in shock.

“ W H A T ! ? ”

Not even taking a moment to respond, the master of a thousand hands tightened its binding arms, before summoning two more beside the captured emotion. One of the hands shifted the frozen dagger in its grip.

“Sorry buddy! But I got them first! They’re MINE to use, not yours!”

Greed stabbed the Ice Dagger into the crimson demon’s side. Nothing happened.

“W…what?”

It gave a mocking laugh as its body shifted within the cocoon of golden arms.

“F O O L .  T H E  I C E  D A G G E R  I S  U S E L E S S  A G A I N S T  M E .  C A N ’ T  Y O U  S E E ?”

The arms surrounding HATRED exploded in a burst of crimson, causing Greed to take a step back as the arm holding the Ice Dagger retreated into the ground. The tattered golden ribbons that used to be its arms faded into the darkness surrounding you.

HATRED morphed into a twisted, horrifying spider, forming its legs into sharp spikes as it loomed over your captor.

“T H E Y  H A T E  M O R E  T H A N  T H E Y  W A N T .  T H E Y  H A T E  E V E R Y O N E .  A N D  T H E Y  H A T E  Y O U .”

The spider lunged at Greed, forcing it to summon several hands from the ground to restrain its legs while it grappled with the smaller emotion.

HATRED leaned in, managing to force Greed to take a step back as it tried to hold all of its arms and legs in place. It was futile, though, that much was obvious to you.

HATRED was just too strong.

“A F T E R  I  G E T  R I D  O F  Y O U ,  I ’ L L  K I L L  E V E R Y O N E  E L S E I N  T H I S  E T E R N A L  D R E A M .  A N D  T H E N ,  I ’ L L  H E L P  T H E M  B E C O M E  P U R E .  I ’ L L  H E L P  T H E M  W A K E  U P .”

The spider’s jaws clicked menacingly as golden beads of sweat flowed from Greed’s head.

“I  W I L L  T U R N  T H E M  I N T O  A  C R E A T U R E  O F  P U R E  H A T R E D ,  D E S T R O Y I N G  E V E R Y O N E  T H A T  E V E R  D A R E D  T O  S T A N D  I N  O U R  W A Y .”

Your head was pounding as the hopeless scene unfolded in front of you. You had failed everyone.

It was all going to be over now…

“S T A R T I N G  W I T H  Y -”

The sound of flesh being pierced rang out, interrupting their struggles as HATRED’s head jerked up.

“U R K !”

HATRED fell over, allowing Greed to let go of its large, brutish arms as it slowly turned back into a lanky, vaguely-demonic humanoid.

It brought a claw to its side, staring in surprise at the wound and the weapon still firmly planted in its body. Red melted into a toxic green as your eyes followed where it seemed to be looking.

A pair of golden hands gripped the Venomshank’s hilt tightly, applying as much force as possible into the large sword to keep it embedded into the demon’s side.

HATRED remained there, laying on its side, processing its defeat as it unfolded before everyone. Then, it slowly looked at Greed with its faceless visage.

“T H E Y  W I L L  N O T  S U R V I V E  W I T H  Y O U  A T  T H E  H E L M .  T H E Y  N E E D  M E .  Y O U ...  Y O U  A R E N ’ T  S T R O N G  E N O U G H .”

There was silence as the two emotions regarded each other.

…

Greed twisted the sword still in HATRED’s abdomen, eliciting a roar of pain from the other impurity as it slowly walked over to it.

It laughed as it squatted beside the fallen flaw.

“You think I don’t know that? I know they’re not that greedy, I know they won’t make me that strong. But… I don’t intend to only use them for my own benefit.”

HATRED sharply looked up at Greed. You didn’t like where this was going, and by the looks of it, neither did HATRED.

“I think… I think I can afford to keep you around. You’re useful! You can really put their strength to good use. I just need to rein you in. And then we can both be happy! They’ll hate all the people you want, and then I’ll be able to take everything from everyone!”

The manic glee in its voice became more pronounced the longer it spoke. You were starting to wonder which one between them would be the worse emotion to lose yourself to when Greed’s deranged rambling was interrupted with a deep, offended scoff.

“W O R K  W I T H Y O U ?  Y O U  A R E  B E N E A T H  M E .  Y O U  A R E  N O T  W O R T H Y  O F  B E I N G -  A G H !”

HATRED coughed up dark red blood as the Venomshank was plunged deeper into its side. Meanwhile, the master of a thousand hands tilted its head, the hole in its face shrinking into a pinprick as it cupped the other emotion’s cheek.

“Hey now, it’s not nice to insult the one willing to give you a chance to get what you want. Besides, if you don’t want to work with me, that’s fine. You can just work for me instead until you come around.”

HATRED panicked as several golden hands emerged from the ground around it, throwing themselves over its form and wrapping themselves around its weak body. It shouted, clawing desperately at the appendages in an attempt to free itself.

It was only able to feebly rip apart two arms before it was pulled into the ground by the writhing mass of gold laying on top of it. And then, silence.

You and your captor stared at the part of the floor where it used to be. Then, Greed slowly turned around, its hole having returned to its normal size as it walked over to where you were still suspended.

“That must’ve been pretty traumatizing, right? Don’t worry about it! You won’t have to process any of it anymore! I’ll be helpin’ you deal with all of your problems now!”

Your blood turned to ice as the hands holding you up fell into the ground. And yet, you could still feel its presence, sticking to your back like notes that held on no matter what.

You felt a sudden urge to walk forwards. You did just that. And suddenly, you understood what was happening.

“Let’s go purify your soul, shall we?”

Despite your attempts to stop yourself, you nodded.

You walked past the pile of TIX (It doesn’t matter, we have more than that,) and towards the light. You grabbed the orb. You appeared back at the hand.

Somewhere at the back of your mind, a presence watched you. Somewhere at the back of your mind, a presence shuddered at what you had become.

Somewhere at the back of your mind, a voice screamed in fury.

VEhFIE1BU1RFUiBPRiBBIFRIT1VTQU5EIEhBTkRTIFRBS0VTIEVWRVJZVEhJTkcgSVQgQ0FO

“Jon!”

The body abruptly stood up, causing all three beings in the room to step back in shock as the impossible unfolded before them. “Goodness!” the mage exclaimed, immediately feeling relieved as their eyes flitted from the penguins to his ghostly body.

The light blue penguin (who he now knew was Jerry) seemed overjoyed at their return to consciousness (or rather, return to life, but it wasn’t like he or the other penguin was about to tell him that). “They’re awake!” he said, even as every muscle in their body tensed up from the trio’s presence.

That was odd, aren’t they on good terms? But, maybe they’re just in shock? The ghostly chef didn’t like how weak that rationale sounded to him. Still, perhaps he was overthinking things. This all still seemed like the reaction of someone who just came back from a near-death experience and they likely needed some space.

“Jerry, I’m not sure they-”

“DUDE!” Terry interrupted, snapping at them and interrupting him. “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?”

They scowled at him, but it wasn’t one of irritation or defensiveness. It was… oddly vitriolic. Angry, that was how the mage would describe it.

But why would they- He gasped, being brought out of his thoughts as they turned around to reach for the Ghostwalker. Again. “WAIT! NO!” The ethereal chef reached out, as if he could stop them from killing themselves all over again, right after they had just miraculously recovered.

“YOU’RE NOT PU-...”

They wrapped their hands around the hilt. They pulled the translucent sword out of the pedestal as easily as they would with any other sword.

More importantly, they did not collapse after their heart stopped beating. Because it didn’t.

WHAT!???!

They slowly turned around, still holding the Ghostwalker. They stared at the three of them like they were aliens.

W-wait a minute…

The Kitchen Wizard squinted at them. If he looked a little closer, he swore he could see bits of gold and a trace of crimson in their eyes…

Their eyes met his gaze. They smiled dangerously.

O-oh shit. “TERRY, STOP THEM-”

Jon immediately held the Ghostwalker up, channeling its power right as the other penguin pulled out a green launcher and aimed it at them. He fired a missile at them…

…and it phased through their body, exploding at the wall behind them instead. It was strong enough to send everyone down with the shockwave alone.

Everyone… except for Jon, who took advantage of the chaos to climb up the ladder and escape the cellar. They turned around, giving the Kitchen Wizard a mocking wave as he looked up at them in horror.

“Later, suckers! It’s finally MINE!” The sweet, if somewhat naive adventurer looked at the sword in their hands with a possessive ecstasy before running off. “IT’S ALL MINE!!!”

…what have we done.

Chapter Text

SOLITUDE - It doesn’t really matter

“Well… that ended faster than I thought it would.”

You struggled to remain upright, even as you were prostrated in front of the massive eye that peered into your very soul after it completely annihilated you. You gasped for air, trying to meet its gaze with a defiant look, yet failing miserably as your arms lost strength and you collapsed.

It hummed to itself, shuffling over beside you to look at your fallen form with a detached sense of curiosity.

“You are rather smart… You are very special. I have seen enough of your life to know that. And yet… and yet, you can’t tell…”

You looked up at it, only to see that its attention was directed elsewhere. The deep blue eyes on the walls were also staring at something else. They were all staring at the only other person in the room.

Builderman shook in place, an indescribable expression on his face as he brought a hand to his waist.

“...that he isn’t who he says he is.”

Confusion gripped your heart as you processed its words. That confusion only grew by tenfold as Builderman summoned a thin, dark red sword in his hand. “Creator!” he shouted, slowly walking over to Solitude. “It’s lying to you! It’s trying to make you doubt yourself! You’ve come so far, we can’t fail now!”

Solitude merely let him advance, though it did narrow the eye that was its body a little as the distance closed between them.

“Ohhh… You know, you can drop the act now. I know… you won’t let me exist. I am a threat to your plans… because I see right through you.”

Finally, frustration boiled to the surface as you glanced at Solitude. “What are you talking about!?” you exclaimed, gritting your teeth in pain as you clutched your still-bleeding chest.

Still, it continued to stare at Builderman, even as he raised the sword above his head.

“You’ll see in just a moment.”

Builderman slashed downwards-

-and promptly dropped the crimson sword mid-swing, coughing up blood as his hands flew to his chest. A massive, deep blue spike was embedded in his torso, being wide enough at the base to literally punch a giant hole through his chest.

You screamed as soon as you processed what you were looking at. “BUILDERMAN!” You angrily slammed your fists on the floor, reaching out towards him in vain as tears flowed from your eyes. “Wh- wha- WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?”

Solitude finally glanced at you, meeting your distraught gaze with an even stare of its own. As if to add insult to injury, it blinked.

The egg-shaped eye that didn’t have a need to blink until now… blinked. In response to you. Asking why it had just killed the whole reason you were on this quest in the first place.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?”

In lieu of a response, it simply looked back at a limp Builderman, still held up by the spike piercing through his chest.

“He can’t play dead forever. I just need you to wait and see.”

“S-SEE!?” you sputtered in indignation. “HE’S DEAD! The whole reason I wanted to purge my soul was to free myself and Builderman, and now I can’t do that, because you just punched a hole through his chest!”

Solitude let out a quiet, almost imperceptible sigh as it drove the spike further into Builderman, lifting his body off of the ground as the numerous deep blue eyes around them observed silently.

You managed to push yourself onto your feet, fueled by grief and frustration as you reached for your weapon. “Are you even listening to me!?”

“Why should I? It wouldn’t matter… I wouldn’t be able to convince you until you see irrefutable evidence of what I’m claiming. I just have to make you watch when that happens…”

You glanced at your sword, laying a few studs away from you. “Even if that isn’t Builderman, why would he help me confront my flaws and purify my soul? Why would he-”

“You are truly gullible if you think that he didn’t have his own plans in store for you, after your soul’s been purged of almost everything else…”

The blood dripping from the hole in Builderman’s chest collected in a small, crimson puddle in front of the base of the spike. Your expression wavered as you watched the puddle slowly grow with each ‘plink’ of his life leaving his cooling body.

“...and you’re any better?” you spat, giving Solitude a hateful glare as you reached off to the side. “You’re the representation of one of my worst flaws. You’ll take over my body and have me do your bidding until we all shrivel up and die. I can’t let you win.” The hand around your sword’s grip tightened.

Solitude continued to stare at the corpse in the room, its many eyes ignoring your presence in a way that could almost be considered egregious as it gave a thoughtful hum in reply.

“I will be frank with you — I don’t care about the swords. I don’t care about our friends, about the people we all met on our journey. It’ll all be gone one day, no matter what we do or try to get them to stay. We… always lose what we care about the most.”

It seemed to be ignoring how you slowly snuck up behind it, your blade raised to strike its back and avenge Builderman, to try and complete your mission to make sure that your companion didn’t die in vain.

“Don’t you get it…? We always lose. Every time we make a connection, every time we gain something… we lose it eventually. A friend drifts away. A family member passes on. A sword deems us unworthy after so many trials and tribulations, and leaves us for another wielder. We were always destined to be alone.”

Your hands shook. You were… faltering. It boggled you. This thing killed Builderman, and it’s not even acknowledging your presence, and yet it was convincing you to stand down with cold, hard truths… Manipulations. It’s nothing but manipulation.

It’s trying to get you to give up by pointing out how hopeless and meaningless it all is.

“Wielding all this power… and knowing everyone from Bizville to the Manor? We can’t have both. The swords… they left us because we became unworthy. Because we became too attached to the fleeting lives and relationships around us. Because we cared too much.”

…and it was working.

“Aren’t you tired? Wouldn’t it be great to be free from all of this? The world will always forget us, will always move on without us no matter what we do or what we accomplish. The lives we saved, the friends we made, the people we’ve become close to… they’ll always leave us. I’m… I’m tired. I know you are as well.”

Solitude shifted its wave-like body, looking down at the ground as the eyes on the walls began to let out involuntary tears. You were just barely able to fend off the emotions welling up inside you, pent up after so much time spent being suppressed. You had to do this. You had to be strong. For everyone. For yourself.

“We never asked for this. Why do we always have to sacrifice so much for people that don’t matter?”

It’s all gone.

You fought off the flashbacks of a timeline that never was. A timeline that never would be, that never should be after everything you’ve done to avert the fate that was woven for you and your friends. Your family.

You couldn’t fail them. They matter.

“...you still don’t understand. They… don’t matter. We don’t matter.”

In a burst of willpower, you mustered the strength to bring the sword down on the survivor of sorrow…

…the blade sank into it. And did nothing more.

You struggled to free the sword as Solitude’s pupil emerged from the void of its back. It stared at you, watching as you continued to try and wrench the blade out of its head.

Multiple blue appendages wrapped around the sword, keeping it firmly in place as the eye peered into your very soul.

“You should stop fighting… it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters.”

“I can’t let you win!” you managed to shout, kicking at Solitude in an attempt to cause it to waver. Yet still, it held on, not even flinching with each impact of your foot against its eye.

It watched you, still. Not fighting back, but not letting go.

Solitude sighed, before the rest of the sword was quickly pulled into its body. You were forced to let go, backing away warily as the eyes continued to gaze at you with an unreadable expression. This was it, then…

It almost seemed to be gazing at you in pity as it slowly closed in. It knew you. It knew your memories, your traumas, your hurt.

Maybe… it was better this way, wasn’t it?

“...we really are pitiful, aren’t w-”

Solitude suddenly let out a pained, distorted cry as a clap of thunder echoed across the room. The pupils of the eyes on the walls shrank, as they looked around wildly in response to its pain.

“VREEAAAAAUGH!”

The mound of its body collapsed, and you were brought back to the present as the visions stopped. You stared at the unmoving mass of blue that was Solitude, then at the figure that you recognized as Builderman standing several studs away.

“...Builderman?” you croaked, blinking as you struggled to believe the sight that stood before you. “You’re alive?”

Builderman slowly raised his head, looking at you with a mirthless smile as a slight trail of crimson bled out of his mouth. “Of course I am, Jon. We have to finish it off, and then we can move on to the last emotion staining your soul.” He began to slowly walk over to you. “We still have to purify your soul. We still have to get out.” His voice felt strained and forced. It made your skin crawl, despite the familiarity.

You glanced at the man’s chest. There was no gaping hole in the middle of it. Only a darker patch that could have been a trick of the light, if it didn’t fill the exact same space that used to be occupied by the spike that he was impaled upon earlier. You glanced down at his feet.

He was trailing crimson blood everywhere he walked. “Is something wrong, creator?” he asked, his voice almost taking on a mocking sneer as he drew ever closer to you. “We’re so close to our goal! We just have to scrape away the remnants of your isolation, then we can confront your fears and free ourselves from this prison.”

You took a step back. And another. And another. Then you hit the wall behind you, and there was nowhere else to go as Builderman slowly closed the distance.

He smiled at you. Hollow, mirthless, and sadistic. “Creator,” he intoned, in a voice far deeper and far louder than what was humanly possible.

You gave him a fearful look. ‘Builderman’ chuckled. “I suppose it’s time to drop this facade,” he mused, contorting his body until joints started to twist out of place and bones began to crack. “I was  s o  T I R E D  O F  P R E T E N D I N G  T O  B E  L I K E  Y O U .”

The air left your lungs as ‘Builderman’ levitated in the air while long, red, and gangly limbs forced themselves out of his hands and feet as he revealed who- what he truly was. Crimson blood collected in a puddle beneath him as he tore his own body open, its limbs flying everywhere and sinking into the ground, melting into that horrifyingly inhuman liquid that was now collecting in front of you into the shape of a towering demon.

Somehow, you knew exactly what this was. You knew exactly what it wanted. You knew it was waiting for the perfect time to strike.

And now you were completely defenseless against it. And you both knew that. And you could do nothing about it all.

Useless. Feeble.

“P I T I F U L .  I  E X P E C T E D  Y O U  T O  F A L L  M U C H ,  M U C H  L A T E R .  I  P U T  T O O  M U C H  F A I T H  I N  Y O U R  A B I L I T I E S .”

The manifestation of your self-HATRED stabbed a claw into your shoulder, causing you to yell in pain as it lifted you up and held you against the wall. Dark blue eyes remained tightly shut as it leaned in.

“Y O U  L E T  I T  M A N I P U L A T E  Y O U .  Y O U  G A V E  I N .  Y O U  A R E  I N S U F F I C I E N T .  I N F E R I O R .  I N A D E Q U A T E .  U N W O R T H Y .”

Unworthy. The word brought back unwanted memories to the forefront of your mind.

As if sensing this, it chuckled, the sound reminding you of both Kyoko and Noobador as two voices laughed together at your suffering. In fact, it likely knew them, too. It was a part of your mind, after all.

Part of you.

“T H A T  I S  W H Y  T H E  S W O R D S  R E J E C T E D  Y O U .  Y O U  W E R E  W E A K .  Y O U  W E R E  W O R T H L E S S .  Y O U  L E T  A L L  Y O U R  F R I E N D S  D I E  I N  P A I N ,  A N D  C O U L D N ’ T  D O  A N Y T H I N G  B U T  W A T C H .”

HATRED let out a low, rumbling growl as its face rippled in front of you. The featureless crimson quickly turned into a gaping, circular maw lined with dozens of razor-sharp teeth. Corruption dripped from the abyss in its head.

“I  W I L L  M A K E  Y O U  S U F F E R .  I  W I L L  M A K E  Y O U  H A T E .  I  W I L L  B R E A K  T H E  C H A I N S  T H A T  B O U N D  Y O U  I N  T H E  L A S T  T I M E  A N D  T H I S  O N E .”

Just as quickly, the mouth shifted back into a featureless face as it breathed into your face, its breath hot and discomforting.

“Y O U  D O N ’ T  D E S E R V E  T O  B E  Y O U .  Y O U  A R E  T O O  F L A W E D  T O  C O N T I N U E  E X I S T I N G .  I  A M  T H E  O N L Y  W A Y  F O R  Y O U  T O  R E D E E M  Y O U R S E L F .  Y O U  W I L L  B E  S O M E O N E  O F  U S E  A T  L A S T .”

The demon hunched over as its tail sliced through the air, the pointed end stopping right before your neck as it traced a thin line over your jugular.

“G I V E  I N  T O  Y O U R  D E S P A I R .  C L O S E  Y O U R  E Y E S ...”

Tears flowed from your eyes as you watched the tail slowly pull itself back, preparing for one painful stab. This was truly it, then. You felt like you had no choice but to close your eyes as the end finally came.

Terry… Red and Blue… Kyoko…

HATRED gave a pleased, grim chuckle as your friends flashed through your mind.

I’m sorry, guys.

You felt the air rush around the tail as it whipped forwards, stabbing into your-

“A G H - !”

The claw that was holding you suddenly pulled itself out of your shoulder, eliciting a pained wince from you as you fell to the ground in a heap. Cracking your eyes open, you were able to catch the sight of a massive blue spike embedding itself into HATRED’s side, causing it to lean in one direction as its claws disbelievingly scrabbled at the cerulean cone.

As it was finally able to rip the spike out of its side, it sharply looked up, twisting its thin, wiry body to avoid another spike sent its way, one that nearly grazed it as it passed.

Your eyes flitted to where the spikes had come from. And you had never felt so oddly relieved to see a giant blue eye staring back at you, unblinking and unwavering in its gaze.

It directed its attention to the manifestation of your HATRED.

“...remember what I said. I will not let you end me. And I will not let you end us.”

HATRED snarled, its body shifting as it prepared to strike in response.

“I  A M  M A K I N G  T H E M  S T R O N G E R .  I  A M  F I X I N G  T H E I R  F L A W S .  I  A M  F I X I N G  T H E  M E R E  F A C T  T H A T  Y O U  E X I S T !”

Solitude didn’t react, although the eyes on the walls did open up again, affixing it with a deceptively tranquil stare.

You wanted to move. You wanted to help, because at this point you’d rather be isolated forever than fall victim to your own rage against the world (it helped that the flaw made some genuinely good points, didn’t it?)... but you were too weak. Too tired.

T O O  F R A I L  T O  E V E N  S T A N D  U P .

Solitude, as if sensing your inner turmoil, breathed out, its body relaxing as it approached the two of you.

“Who cares? Why does your strength matter? You don’t owe the world anything. Why do your flaws matter? What they think doesn’t matter. The fact that we suddenly existed one day doesn’t matter. We’re here now. And we’re going to be at peace with our meaningless existence.”

HATRED furiously exhaled and shifted its body yet again, the maw in its face emerging as corruption frothed at the edges of its numerous sharp teeth.

Solitude’s pupil multiplied as it bounced around inside of its body. It was preparing to counter with its own attack.

N O B O D Y  W I L L  L O V E  Y O U !  T H E Y  W I L L  A L L  F E A R  Y O U .  T H E Y  W I L L  A L L  H A T E  Y O U .

It was right. You were nothing. You were empty inside, and the only thing that deserved to fill your heart was the loathing everyone around you felt every time they laid eyes upon your face.

Orbs of corruption flew through the air, passing you as they made their way to their target.

They were intercepted by the little dark blue balls that smashed into them, at first disfiguring, then dispersing them as more orbs collided against the projectiles.

“Who cares? You were never really that close to them. You were never meant to be that close to them. Our connections to them only hurt us and the ones we cared for. But that doesn’t matter anymore. We won’t make the same mistakes.”

HATRED shrieked as the last few orbs flew through what was left of the corruption that it had shot at the other flaw. The smaller balls splashed against its lithe form, causing it to stagger back with each hit as it struggled to hold itself together.

Maybe…

N O !  Y O U ’ R E  N O T H I N G !  Y O U  W I L L  A L W A Y S  B E  N O T H I N G !  Y O U  N E E D  T H E M !  Y O U  N E E D  S O M E T H I N G  E L S E  T O  M A K E  Y O U  F E E L .  S O M E O N E  E L S E  T O  H U R T  S O  T H A T  Y O U  W O N ’ T !

It warped its body into a colossal ball with three judging eyes, opening its gaping maw to call for help as several hollow forms began to emerge from the ground around it.

Several large blue spikes shot out from the eyes on the walls, either impaling or crushing the apparitions before they could even finish forming. A few shot at the demon directly, causing more of its body to splatter across the ground as it was forced back into its original form.

“No. It’s just you and me.”

HATRED screamed as it forced itself onto its knees. It screamed at Solitude. It screamed at you.

“Y O U -  Y O U  N E E D  T O  F E E L  R E V E R E D ,  L O V E D ,  H A T E D ,  A N Y T H I N G !  W H A T  A B O U T  E V E R Y T H I N G  Y O U  F O U G H T  F O R ! ?  W H A T  A B O U T  T H E  S W O R D S ? !  Y O U  N E E D E D  M E !”

Something in you broke as you stared at the reflection of yourself. The culmination of your obsession with getting something for anything, for wanting to feel loved and appreciated for everything that you accomplished. For connection, in any way that mattered.

“...it doesn’t matter. All of it doesn’t matter. It’s all temporary, fleeting. It will all be gone one day. We only need ourselves.”

HATRED let out a disbelieving shriek as the eyes on the walls all stared at it. Their pupils widened and took form, jutting out of the walls they were on as it raged against its inevitable defeat.

Because that’s what it really was. Inevitable.

And it would never accept that. But it didn’t matter.

“Y O U  C A N ’ T  A B A N D O N  E V E R Y T H I N G  Y O U  F O U G H T  F O R !  Y O U -”

“It’s time for us to let go of everything and be at peace with what we are.”

You felt an odd sense of calm wash over you as the pathetic creature in front of you wailed in disbelief.

“N O !”

It was finally over.

“Goodbye.”

In one second, HATRED was kneeling on the ground, with parts of its body dripping off as it struggled to maintain its form. In the next, several large blue spikes were impaled into where it used to be, with the only evidence that it used to exist being the rapidly-disintegrating splashes of crimson that dotted the area surrounding them.

You let out a sigh of relief. It was over.

Now what?

Solitude slid over next to you, gazing at you blankly. You looked up at it, knowing what it wanted. “M-my friends,” you sputtered, still struggling to let go of the bonds that you made.

It shut its eye.

“They’ll be better off without us, and we’ll be better off without them. Relationships always hurt us in the end.”

“I can’t hurt them.”

“I’m not asking you to. I’m asking you to let go of them. We don’t need anyone else. They’ll only complicate things needlessly.”

Your mind traveled back to the Ghostwalker. “What about the swords? We can’t let anyone else get their hands on them.” Whoever those were, they could use them to hurt your friends, and you wouldn’t be there to protect them.

Solitude opened its eye, giving you a nod with a tilt of its massive body.

“We’ll find and take all of them. We’ll disappear from the world and never be seen again, and with that, we’ll keep the swords safe with us. I don’t feel like trying to change your mind. It wouldn’t matter if I did, because I know you won’t.”

You managed to let out a smile at that as tears flowed down your cheeks. “T-thank you,” you managed to get out. Perhaps… this really was for the best.

You allowed Solitude to become one with you as you got to your feet, your injuries closing on their own as dark blue threads stitched up the holes in your body. You walked over and picked up your sword.

Something inside you quivered in anticipation for the end.

Your soul didn’t feel burdened anymore.

VEhFIFNVUlZJVk9SIE9GIFNPUlJPVyBTQUNSSUZJQ0VTIEVWRVJZVEhJTkcgRk9SIEVWRVJZT05F

“Jon!”

Kitchen Wizard flew back a few feet as the body before them suddenly stood up. “Goodness! You…” He trailed off, noting their lack of a reaction. “Jon?”

The ghost’s body leaned to the side as he gave the rising figure a quizzical tilt of the head. Something felt different about them.

“OH, COME ON, DUDE! I had to run all the way back to the kitchen guy to get the sword for you, and then we had to wait for you to wake up because you were stupid and touched the Ghostwalker! Could you at least have the courtesy to-!”

Terry paused in his irritated ranting and raving as Jon slowly, unsteadily, got back to their feet. They swayed a little as they stood up to their full height. Jerry almost stepped forwards to catch them, but the other penguin held a flipper up, giving his brother an uncharacteristically serious look as they all waited with bated breath.

Jon stopped swaying. They looked off into the distance, before their eyes quietly scanned all three of them as they regarded their allies(?). None of them seemed to be willing to break the tense silence that hung in the air as the adventurer’s scrutinizing gaze fell on Terry.

Terry glared back, his large, bushy eyebrows furrowing as he stared into the deep blue pits of their eyes.

They gave a slow, subtle nod, one that would’ve been imperceptible to Kitchen Wizard if he hadn’t been so focused on every little movement that the resurrected hero made. Frankly, he wasn’t even sure if either penguin noticed it.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Jon turned on a heel and walked towards the Ghostwalker. The ghostly cook’s eyes widened as he reached a hand out towards them. “Wait, don’t-!”

Jon ignored him, wrapping their hands around the hilt of the translucent sword and pulling it out of its resting place. They spun the sword upright and inspected it, unaware or uncaring of the palpable shock radiating off of the three behind them.

The dark blue penguin found his words first “...what the heck?” Terry mumbled, giving the ghost beside him a confused, suspicious look as they gave the Ghostwalker an experimental swing in the air.

“M-Mr. Wizard, isn’t that… supposed to…”

The two penguins suddenly shivered as the ghostly mage made a low, haunting sound. “You actually… purified your soul?” he asked, causing the Ghostwalker’s newest wielder to turn towards the trio.

They put the sword away, giving Kitchen Wizard a nod. “I’m pure and unburdened now,” they replied, the sound of their voice shocking the group of three once again. They sounded so quiet and hollow.

Kitchen Wizard gazed at their eyes. They were different from when they had last spoken in the kitchen. Their half-lidded eyes were now dark blue and empty, yet free of everything that weighed down upon their soul. Pure enough to use the Ghostwalker, but he wasn’t sure if that necessarily translated to pure and mentally sound.

“...are you alright?” he couldn’t help but ask, feeling genuinely concerned in how they may have gone about making ‘peace’ with themselves.

Jon nodded.

“Oh, okay. Yeah, see, Jon here is a little standoffish dweeb who just came back from a near-death experience and won’t even thank their friends for going out of their way to help them after screwing up their vacation. Awesome,” Terry muttered, having apparently decided that the tension had fallen enough for him to revert to acting like a prick.

The ghost fought the urge to roll his eyes as Jerry jostled his brother. “Hey, they just came back to life and finally did some self-reflecting… or something! Be nice to them!” the lighter blue penguin chastised.

Terry scoffed, rolling his eyes as he gave Kitchen Wizard a look. “Ugh. Either way, we need to go back to ROBLOX HQ. Shedletsky needs us.” He turned to Jon. “Are you gonna- forget it, you have to anyway.”

Jon’s posture straightened up, and they gained an odd look in their eyes. “...yes,” they answered, “I’ll head there in my own time. I have a few things to take care of first.”

“Of course you do,” the disagreeable blue thing grumbled, walking past Kitchen Wizard and climbing up the ladder. Before he could climb out the hatch, though…

“Oh, and Terry?”

“What,” the penguin flatly asked, giving Jon a dirty look as his brother waited on the rungs beneath him.

Jon gave him a small, grateful smile. There was something else in that smile that Kitchen Wizard couldn’t figure out.

“Thank you,” the adventurer said, “for everything. I appreciate your help.” They swallowed. “Goodbye.”

The penguin’s angry look became one of confusion as his beak hung open. Incertitude was written all over his expression as he visibly struggled to respond to such a heartfelt gesture. “I… um… Okay. Bye, dude. See ya.” And he quickly clambered out of the basement, with Jerry following suit — though not before the other penguin gave Jon an earnest wave and a cheerful grin of his own.

It warmed Kitchen Wizard’s heart to see that they truly cared for their friends. Speaking of…

“Oh, and Jon…? I… was going to ask if you had any other questions, but you already seem well-acquainted with everything so…” The ghost searched himself as the adventurer turned to look at him blankly. “I brought something to heat you up.”

“I don’t feel cold-” Jon was interrupted as the cook gave them a bowl of soup with a shark fin sticking out of it. They glanced down at the offering in their hands. Something inscrutable appeared on their face, and it briefly scrunched up before abruptly settling into a blank, tranquil expression again. They looked back up at Kitchen Wizard, who noted that their eyes appeared wet. “Thank you.”

Kitchen Wizard gave them a small smile. “You’re quite brave, you know that? When we first met, I didn’t think much about you. But, now… I think you’re the most strong-willed individual I’ve ever met.” He watched as their stoic expression wavered. “You’re… gutsy. And I admire that about you. If I can ever be of future assistance to you… please stop by the Manor again. I’ll be happy to cook something for you.”

Their mouth quivered, and their eyes shimmered with tears that didn’t flow.

“...but for now, I’ll let you be on your way. Good luck out there, Hero. I’m counting on you.”

Jon let out a breath that they didn’t know they were holding, and just as quickly, their face became blank and unreadable as they merely nodded in response. Without another word, they put the shark fin soup away and turned, making their way towards the ladder as they made to exit the basement.

With their back turned to him, they softly said something to themselves. The smile on Kitchen Wizard’s face slowly faded as he watched them quickly climb up each rung. “I’m sorry, Jon, could you repeat that?” he gently asked.

But they were already gone.

Kitchen Wizard wouldn’t figure out what they had said until two weeks after the fact, when Terry had run to him asking if he had seen Jon. They hadn’t been seen by anyone for weeks, but the Firebrand was reportedly missing when Shedletsky got someone to check. None of their friends knew where they were, and Terry had gone to him after asking everybody else and getting the same response.

No. He hadn’t seen Jon in that time frame either. He thought that they followed Terry and Jerry to ROBLOX HQ. He had hoped they would visit when they could. He even visited the regular manor to become acquainted with the knights he used to cook for at Blackrock Castle, in hopes that Jon would be there and he’d run into them by pure chance while cooking for his old patrons.

Terry finally panicked and, in a burst of desperation, asked if he could join Shedletsky and help him and the others look for Jon. They were all concerned for their friend, but more importantly, they had three out of seven SFOTH swords, and if their suspicions were correct, that number was now four swords.

Jon had gone off on their own to try and find the SFOTH swords, and nobody knew why. And that was a great cause for concern. And since Kitchen Wizard was one of the few who interacted with them directly before and after they obtained the Ghostwalker, he would likely have some insight into why they were acting the way that they were.

Why they had cut out everyone from their life and had gone rogue, staying out of everybody’s sight and mind while still collecting the swords without any orders or info from Shedletsky himself. Why they were doing any of this and driving a wedge between them and their friends. Why?

As Terry shook Kitchen Wizard and stared into his face, realization dawned on the ghost as his his mind traveled back to two weeks ago. The last time he had seen Jon, leaving the basement after saying goodbye to his friends.

They didn’t purify their soul and come out unscathed. No, something in them broke in the process, and now they were a ghost to everyone they had ever known, or would have ever known. They didn’t want anybody to help or find them, they feared the bonds that would’ve arose from constant interaction.

Kitchen Wizard saw the signs and didn’t stop them before it was too late. And he was all the more foolish for it, for not doing more to help them cope with their struggles in a healthy way, before they cast themselves away and went down this isolated path of self-destruction.

Because they had said as much before leaving them all behind for good.

“...it doesn’t matter.”

He would’ve disagreed, but now it didn’t matter. Even as he reluctantly joined their friends’ efforts, he knew they would never allow themselves to be found.

They had a window, and they missed it. Because now, now it truly didn’t matter, no matter how hard any of them tried.

Jon had seen a choice, one that wasn’t necessarily true, but all that mattered was that they believed it to be. They could keep all of the people they knew close and strengthen the bonds they had, or find all the swords and make sure that nobody would ever be able to abuse their power ever again. 

And they chose the latter.

Chapter Text

FEAR - Surmounting terror

“I-I… did it?”

The thin, purple trees seemed to spin around you as you staggered backwards, struggling to remain on your feet. Your head was rolling, even as you did your best to keep your eyes on the cowardly flaw in front of you.

Fear looked at you unsurely, hiding behind its main body behind its arms as if expecting some sort of retribution, a last-ditch attempt at purging it from your soul. When the attack didn’t come, it slowly, tentatively, unfolded its arms, the long, gangly limbs creaking as they hung at its side.

You glared at it angrily. Defiantly. Hatefully.

It shivered beneath your gaze, but held strong. After all, it wasn’t the one no longer able to keep fighting.

“Y-you… you can’t fight anymore… I r-really did win. Oh, I can’t believe…”

The palpable relief in its voice made your blood boil. It was an insult. It was celebrating a victory that should have been yours. You fought so long. Toiled for so much. Gotten so far. And for this wretch to beat you at the last second?

You hated it. It was as if the universe was mocking you.

“...n-no, wait. I-I shouldn’t have done that! Now you’re weakened… y-you’re defenseless against it! I o-only wanted to convince you to-...”

Fear trailed off, suddenly tensing up as it pointed at something past you, quivering as you heard slow, methodical footsteps coming up from behind.

“S-STAY BACK! I WON’T LET YOU TAKE THEM!”

There was a pause. A chill in the air that you could feel, and yet your beating heart warmed your body, you still felt hot and brimming with anger. You narrowed your eyes at Fear. “...what are you-”

Before you could finish, Fear raised its uppermost arms and pointed to a spot above it, its main body morphing to look like a lightbulb as it did so. Your eyes widened, and, in a burst of adrenaline, you managed to throw yourself to the ground right as the purple ray flew above you and into someone else.

The sound of wet gurgling caused you to look behind you in horror. “B-Builderman-!” You reached out towards him as he brought his hands to his bleeding throat.

But something with multiple arms and long, spindly fingers grabbed you and pulled you back. You thrashed in its grip as Builderman collapsed to the ground. “Nonononono, let me go! You don’t know what you just cost me!”

Fear responded by tightening its embrace around you, its secondary and tertiary arms holding you close as both of you watched Builderman bleed out.

“N-no. You don’t know what I just saved you from. H-he- IT was manipulating you. I-I’m protecting you!”

“You!? Protecting me?! You’ve always held me back!” In an act of desperation, you bit on one of Fear ’s hands, eliciting a clipped cry from the gangly emotion as its fingers dug into you. “I have to be brave for everyone else, I can’t afford to cower and wait for something bad to happen! That’s how-”

“NO! Y-YOU LISTEN TO ME! I’VE PROTECTED US FOR YEARS! I-I KEPT YOU FROM DOING SOMETHING RECKLESS M-MORE TIMES THAN I WANT TO COUNT! WE LOST THE SWORDS B-BECAUSE… BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T STOP AND THINK OF THE CONSEQUENCES I-IF YOU MESSED UP!”

Fear took a deep, shuddering breath, still holding you close even as you flinched from its outburst. Then, it seemingly recollected itself, straightening its body out as it glanced at Builderman before looking back at you.

“I… I k-know you have to purify your soul for the Ghostwalker. That’s… that’s why I kept you from grabbing it earlier. Y-you w-would’ve destroyed yourself.”

You stared at it in silence, your anger slowly cooling as it explained itself. Against your better judgement, you tilted your head slightly, motioning for it to continue as it began to relax from your compliant behavior.

“I… I don’t know if… if we should d-do this all over again. I’m… tired. Tired of worrying, tired of f-fretting over our friends whenever something goes after us. The s-swords just make us a bigger target.”

You shook your head. “We need to get all the swords so that nobody else can use them for evil,” you automatically replied, spouting off a fact that had been drilled into your head ever since you had initially found your calling in life.

Fear gave you a surprisingly intense stare, forcing you to lock eyes with it as it leaned in.

“T-the swords have brought us nothing but trouble. Have done nothing to warrant their existence, o-other than to be used for terror. T-to make others FEAR the wielder.”

Your shoulders sagged. It had a point. Your mind wandered, and eventually, you came to ask a question that it also voiced aloud.

“Do they r-really… deserve to exist?”

You narrowed your eyes, deep in thought. The pain. The loss. The suffering. The nightmares. The screams. Did you really need to go through all of that just to play courier for Shedletsky? Were you even told why he needed to keep them intact?

Did you really want to go through all of that again?

You and your Fear spoke as one.

“No.”

And with that question answered, you both kept going, speaking in turns as everything finally made sense to you. It was so blindingly obvious. So deceptively simple of a conclusion to come to.

“They don’t deserve to exist.”

“And we shouldn’t have to sacrifice ourselves just to hold onto so much power, just for us to lose it all to some great, unforeseen evil.”

“W-we have to destroy them all.”

“We have to save the world from the swords.”

You looked at Fear. “The others will stop us,” you said to it.

“D-don’t tell a soul.”

You bit your lip. “I don’t know how long I can keep the lie up,” you hesitantly answered, a cold sweat dripping down your temple.

“J-just act… natural. W-we wake up. We take the G-Ghostwalker. We gather the rest. A-and then… when nobody’s looking… f-find a way to rid the world of their power. Permanently.”

You nodded. “I like the sound of that.” Now, all that was left to do was to wake up. Close your eyes. Breathe.

Pain shot through your shoulder as a blood red appendage lanced itself through your body. You screamed in pain, the sound amplified by your own Fear screeching behind you as the attack coiled itself around the figure’s neck.

“Jon? JON!”

Your eyes shot open, catching sight of a red, diminutive figure sprinting towards you. Your mouth opened, you tried to work it, and not a sound came out. Still, you were helped to your feet.

“Are you okay?” Red asked, dusting you off as he looked you up and down worryingly. You tried to reply. You croaked instead. “Oh cra… n-no, it’s okay. You’re just hurt. We came to save you!”

Something wasn’t clicking here. ‘Save me?’ you mouthed to the sword-wielding child.

Red beamed at you. “Course! We found this evil, purple FREAK trapping you so we’re gonna beat him up and then kill him!” He pointed behind you. You turned around.

Blue was hacking away at Fear, who was trying to defend itself with its long, spindly arms. Those arms grew shorter and shorter by the second, as the girl’s blade made quick work of the wooden(?) limbs.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

Fear screamed at you. You strained to listen. If only its words could make sense…

Delicate hands roughly grabbed you by the sides of your head and forced you to turn away. Alarmed, you almost struggled in its grip, when you saw the face of the person covering your ears. “K-Kyoko?” You found your voice again. And wasn’t that just lovely?

Kyoko smiled at you, soft and warm and kind as she had ever been. “Jon… I’m glad you’re okay.” How was she even here? “Red and Blue found me and dragged me along to help get you out of this mess. It’s your mind, right?”

Dumbly, you nodded at her. What could you say to someone who finally saw you for the struggling, miserable, pathetic little being that you were?

She placed a hand on your shoulder. A strange sense of pain briefly shot through it before it was suppressed. Her eyes closed. “I… I think I know how to help you. You don’t have to be alone anymore. We’re here for you.”

Your breath hitched. She wrapped her arms around you in an embrace, one that you eagerly accepted. One that you had wanted for so long.

“I’m here for you.”

Tears welled up in your eyes. Something screamed louder. Harder.

“Close your eyes. Clear your mind. It’s just you and me. There’s nothing else.”

Something scrabbled at the floor, desperately clawing its way towards you even as one sword slashing away became two, destroying it even faster as it abandoned its defense.

“There’s nothing more to want, Jon. You’ll never be alone again. You don’t have to be afraid anymore…”

You closed your eyes, leaning in. She was so close. You felt alive. Loved. Wanted.

You finally felt like you belonged.

“I’m with you, Jon. We’ll be inseparable. Because now… now, you’re  a l l  M I N E -”

“NO!”

You gasped as Kyoko was lanced by a large, sharp, purple branch, sending her flying away with a cry of pain that warbled and resonated across the room. Blinking, you turned to look at the interloper who just hurt one of the few people you could still say you knew in this time.

A faceless, purple entity with many spindly limbs and an oversized triangle for a head stared back. It was missing most of its parts, and gashes that leaked purple ichor marred its body. It was breathing, almost desperately, as it looked at you.

“S-she is manipulating you-!”

“J-Jon!” You twisted around sharply to look at the source of the voice. Kyoko was on her stomach, cuts adorning her skin and clothes as she struggled to get up. “P-please… I’m… I’m begging you! Come to me! I- I can’t be alone here…”

Your eyes widened as she continued.

“I’m… I’m scared…”

Vaguely, you could hear the sounds of fighting behind you as the unknown entity grappled with your friends. Your companions. They were in danger. But they could handle themselves. Kyoko needed you. She needed your help.

You moved to take a step forwards, and were promptly met with the cold, hard floor of your mind as your face slammed against the ground. With a grunt, you turned back to look at what had tripped you. Two hands of differing sizes were grasping at your leg, forcing you to hold still as the creature held Red and Blue by their necks with the rest of its arms.

“Let them go!” you shouted, reaching for your sword. A sword that you did not have, a sword that materialized into your hand in wisps of vengeful red and sorrowful blues. It burned in your hands, but you didn’t care. You had to protect them.

“T-these aren’t your friends!”

“I don’t care!” Tears pricked at your vision as you got up to your feet, slowly walking towards it. The hands holding your legs didn’t stop you. “They’re all I have left! You- you can’t take them from me! I won’t lose another loved one to this cruel, apathetic world!”

It flinched back, looking between the struggling forms of Red and Blue. Just two kids. It turned back to you, briefly gazing at something behind you in the process.

“...I- I… Jon. Ask yourself. What were you here for?”

Your sword hand twitched. “Your attempt to distract me isn’t going to work, now let my friends go!” Angrily, you pointed the blade at the entity. It stilled minutely, but didn’t seem terribly concerned with the weapon mere inches from its face. Or maybe it was putting on an act of bravery.

Either way, you would kill it. You would kill it and your friends would all be safe, if only for a little while longer.

“Jon. This is your mind. Y-you… you came here because you touched the Ghostwalker while being out of balance. You n-needed to make yourself pure to wield it, t-to e-earn it again.”

“I am pure-!”

“N-no you’re not! You’re afraid, Jon. You’re s-scared. For yourself. F-for your friends. Loved ones. T-the world. You are so, so frightened by everything, a-and you just don’t show it.”

You prepared to strike. Enough of this.

“T-think! I-if this is your mind, a-and you need to make yourself pure, how would your friends get inside with you? L-look at me. What am I?”

Your eye twitched. “You’re dead!” A single slash.

It gasped in pain, but its grip on your friends remained strong, even as it staggered back.

“A-agh-! I’m your survival instinct, y-your FEAR! And n-none of this is real, Jon! You don’t have to be afraid for them- THEY AREN’T REAL!”

You nearly managed to catch one of its arms with the ethereal, blazing sword. It dodged at the last second.

“B-but outside? Th-that’s real. You should be afraid of… of what happens outside i-if she wins!”

You scoffed. “Who? Kyoko?” The thought rankled you. It was ridiculous. And yet unease filled your gut all the same.

“T-that’s not Kyoko! T-that’s your HATRED bubbling up from within you! Your deep-seated, burning, blazing anger towards e-everyone and everything that gets in your way, n-never leaving you alone f-for even a second! Y-your scorn for your enemies, your frustrations with your destiny in life! Our destiny! I-it’s trying to take over you to hurt ever-”

You cut it off, literally, with a flurry of slashes that relieved it of all but one of its arms. It gasped for breath as it lay on the ground, with three swords all pointed at it, poised to put it out of its misery.

Red and Blue flanked you as you prepared to end this.

“A-ah… Jon. I-if I die, s-she wins. She’ll kill… everyone… Kyoko… Noobador… the Cruel King… Red and Blue… Terry… Jerry… Shedletsky… All of them.”

You raised the sword. Your hand quivered as it stared into your soul.

Fire engulfed your hands, and yet they didn’t burn. Not physically. But you still felt it.

“I-if you kill me, a-all of this… everything you fought for… will have been for nothing.”

It gazed at you knowingly.

“Aren’t you afraid of that? Aren’t you afraid of having to go through all of this again? Aren’t you afraid of tripping so close to the finish line?”

Red snarled as his blade shook. “A-alright, enough! Shut up!” He jabbed the pointed metal end down at the defenseless flaw. It would’ve been so easy.

Your sword met his halfway through, blocking the stab as the red sword’s guard grinded against yours. “S-stop.” You gave the kid a meaningful look. “I hav-”

“You don’t have to listen to it!” Red snapped, glaring at you in shock and anger. “It’s playing you!”

“You shouldn’t be afraid of me, Jon. I… I’m a part of you, and I’m the thing that’s been saving you all this time. Please. Listen to-”

Whoosh!

Blue’s blade abruptly came in from the side to try and bisect Fear at the torso. Without missing a beat, your now-burning blade pushed Red’s away, before swinging up to knock the girl’s sword out of her hands. She gasped as the claymore flew past her, nearly hitting her hands as the azure sword was sent flying out of her grasp.

“Jon! You- URK!”

Your eyes widened as you saw a jagged, purple branch impale Blue from behind. The girl struggled, then went limp, blood pooling beneath her as she was lifted into the air. Her expression was shocked and lifeless, and it was one you’d never hoped to see on someone as young and pure as her.

“NO!” both you and Red cried out. You turned to glare at your wretched, manipulative Fear. Before you could snarl at it, it spoke those horrifying, poisonous words as Blue’s head began to melt.

“It’s not Blue!”

Your jaw hung open in shock as Blue’s lifeless expression fell in on itself, creating a gaping hole in her head as her skin turned into a shifting crimson mass that eventually fell away. Whatever it was dripped from Fear’s makeshift shiv as its arm forced itself back into reality, twisting and growing with all the cracks of wood contorting.

“It’s not real. Jon.”

It sounded frighteningly calm for the literal embodiment of your Fears. Perhaps that was why Red surged forwards, screaming in rage as he brought a burning sword down on the still-regenerating emotion.

You snapped yourself out of it just in time to disarm Red, almost literally as your sword missed his hands by a few centimeters. He yelped as his weapon went flying out of his hands, only to choke and gurgle as a purple branch stabbed him through the neck from the side.

Instinct demanded that you help him, and, considering who was brutally murdering him right in front of you, you felt like you should. But all it took was to see Red’s frightful countenance give way to the abyss in his face to make you stay your hand and let the apparition fade away.

“N O !”

You swiveled around to see Kyoko staring at you with shock and horror on her face. “J-Jon!” She gasped and reached out to you as you slowly let your sword fall. “Why are you… why are you giving in to it!? It’s your Fear ! It’s going to ruin your life if you keep listening to it like this!”

The woman clutched the sides of her head as she looked at the ground, distraught. “What would the others say if they saw you like this? You can’t just give in to your paranoia and think all of us are here to hurt you!” She looked up at you with tears welling in her eyes. “Don’t you trust us!?”

You let your mouth silently work itself as you looked her up and down. Then, you closed it as you looked your most beloved friend in the eye. “Where are your wounds?” you quietly asked.

“My… my wha-?”

“Your wounds.” You gestured to her unmarred arms and untorn clothes. “You… you were injured when I last saw you. When did you get the time to patch yourself up and fix your clothes?”

Kyoko slowly gave a nervous smile as sweat dripped down her brow. “I- Jon! You sound crazy! I- I mean, I didn’t come here unprepared! Obviously I brought some food along in case I got hurt!” She blew a raspberry at the air, dismissively waving away at it as she averted her gaze. “What, you didn’t think an adventurer like me would come prepared?”

Her expression slowly faltered as yours remained unchanging. “...I don’t believe you,” you quietly mumbled. “And if you’re here, why didn’t they bring someone more capable of actually helping me in a fight?” You tried not to feel any guilt over how she flinched in response to the indirect insult. It was true. “Why you and two kids, and why not Terry and Noobador, or even the Kitchen Wizard?”

“You’re overthinking things! Jon, I came here because I know you, enough to hopefully keep you from being manipulated by that thing,” she said, spitting out the last word as if it were the vilest of insults. “Which I was clearly too late for.”

The thing in question dragged itself to your side with a single clawed hand. The rest of its arms were visibly growing back in the form of the branches that poked out of its thin, purple trunk of a body.

“You’re… too late to manipulate them, either. They’re onto you now.”

Kyoko rolled her eyes as she turned to look back at you with a pleading expression. “Jon, please. End it while it’s still weak. You can still come back from this practically unscarred and heal.” Her eyes almost seemed wet. They subtly glowed a soft, pervasive crimson.

You stared at her for a few more seconds. Your free hand balled into a fist as your other hand tightened its grasp around the handle of your sword. You shook your head in defeat, giving a heavy sigh from the invisible weight on your shoulders. “The real Kyoko would never be so naive as to think that I can just come back from this without some personal trauma and self-esteem issues.” Slowly, you looked back up at her, glaring hatefully at the imitation.

Her face fell as she took a step back, clearly hurt by your cold dismissal. Then, just as quickly, the sorrow faded from her expression as it became neutral and lifeless. Her whole body seemed to boil as her hands began to bleed. “...so be it, creator.”

Fear suddenly struck out with a massive, branch-like claw, catching her in the side and drawing blood. Lots of it. Kyoko raged as she was sent sprawling by the unexpected swipe, growling in indignant fury as she forced herself back onto her feet, heedless of the three giant gashes adorning the left side of her abdomen.

“I’ve always wanted to rid Jon of you,” she snarled, shedding the last remnants of her human form to briefly shift into a spherical demon and roar into the recesses of your mind. You held in the urge to vomit as red, inhuman forms clambered out of the void, summoning burning swords into their hands before the faces of your friends emerged from the holes in their heads. When you glanced back to Kyoko, she was still recognizable in shape and silhouette.

Form was another matter entirely, as she was composed of the same, scribbly material as the apparitions and their weapons. Her ‘blood’, if that was what it truly was, flowed freely from her and collected into small, crescent puddles in a radius around her. Like some sort of unholy summoning circle that followed her wherever she went.

She grinned widely, giving a mad, face-splitting smile that stretched from ear-to-ear. “And now, I can finally purge Jon of the last vestiges of their weakness. I can get rid of their last flaw — you!” The hostess of HATRED looked almost giddy at the prospect of doing so.

It was sickening to see Kyoko’s visage be used for this. “Stop…” you weakly said, your sword wavering as you brought it up to fend an apparition off. It looked like Noobador. He was probably pissed that you caused the two under your care to die.

Your Fear saved you from making the hard choice by grabbing him by the head with one of its largest hands and crushing it like an egg. Dark red ichor flowed from the gaps in its digits as the body went limp.

“Jon. F-focus. Don’t give in to your anger. W-we can win this, the fact that she’s dropping her facade n-now means she’s desperate.”

“DESPERATE?!” Fear quickly hovered backwards as Kyoko appeared right in front of him. “Can’t you see? I’m winning! They’re not afraid enough to augment your weak, pathetic abilities! They hate me!” She seemed to be salivating at the mere thought as she glanced at you warmly. Her affection felt like the concentrated heat of a solar flare. “And I couldn’t be more proud of them for rightfully discarding you as the filth you are!”

Fear smacked her away as soon as she was done monologuing.

“For the embodiment of HATRED, you sure talk too much.”

It then screeched as an apparition stabbed it in the back.

“For the focal point of Jon’s Fears, you’re far calmer than you have any right to be, fool!”

Kyoko cackled maniacally as apparitions mercilessly hacked away at the sentient tree. It did its best to defend itself, and it was putting up a valiant effort, smashing and tearing apparitions left and right, but it was clear that your Fear would be overwhelmed if you didn’t step in.

“Hm, no. Don’t.” You turned to see Kyoko hovering in the air next to you, casually leaning on one side as she watched the carnage. “Make this easier for both of us, and I promise you, I will make sure you’re pure and happy when this is all over.”

Your eye twitched. How fucking dare she. Whatever reluctance you might’ve had evaporated when it tried to twist Kyoko’s memory for its own ends. With all your strength, you yelled and plunged the blade deep into her stomach.

Kyoko gave you the most offended, disgusted expression you had ever seen her make as more of herself pooled beneath your feet. She then gave a low, disbelieving chuckle as she grabbed the sword, placing her own burning hands above yours to hold them in place as you panicked and struggled against her touch.

“Y O U  S H O U L D N ’ T  H A V E  D O N E  T H A T .”

With a scream that quite literally bounced around the landscape of your mind, she dug her claws into your hands before prying them off the hilt of your sword. Then, she grabbed you by the neck, choking you with both hands as her open-mouthed smile widened and corruption dripped from her maw.

It burned. You screamed in agony as your mind raced, you could feel her trying to break your mind open with a metaphorical hammer as her burning claws tightened around your throat.

Struck by a stray, desperate thought, you reached behind you and dug around. You gurgled as she chuckled in amusement at your futile display of resistance. So amused was she that she loosened her grip minutely, even pulling you in closer so that you were both face-to-face.

Kyoko giggled, staring at you with half-lidded eyes as she tilted her head quizzically. “Hm? What?” she mockingly asked.

“I… have two… more swords…” you struggled to get out. Before she could process the meaning of your incomprehensible reply, you pointed the business end of the Venomshank at her gut and stabbed. Hard.

“U R R R G H !”

Kyoko threw you away as she felt the worst pain of her entire, conceptual life. She gasped in agony, doubling over and clutching the bubbling wound as green mixed with red in an explosive, painful reaction all across her body.

You landed right next to an injured Fear, bowling over several apparitions that were in the way as you did. Not even giving them a chance to recuperate, you swung the Venomshank and severed their heads from their shoulders, thankfully before they could look up and expose the familiar faces they wore on them.

“T-took you long enough…”

“Gack-! Shut up! I didn’t… know she’d actually be hurt by that…” you muttered, dispatching another apparition and forcing down the guilt as another specter of a friend or loved one was reduced to blood and gore.

“The swords are the only thing that can actually hurt her… give me the Venomshank.”

“What?!” You parried a strike from an apparition that looked like Mayor Thaniyel before kicking it away and glaring at Fear. “What for!? You have three pairs of arms, and that’d just leave me with the Ice Dagger if I gave you the Venomshank!”

“She can’t be frozen, and I’m the only one physically strong e-enough to withstand her attacks. And I’m a little powerless right now thanks to you being so unwilling to expose or think of your fears right now.”

You thought back on what she said earlier. An apparition of Jim the Accountant tried to reach for you, only to be pulverized as Fear clapped it with all three pairs of hands. Begrudgingly, you conceded the point. “Fine, take the Venomshank. I’m not that good with small knives…” you muttered as you twirled the Ice Dagger in your hand.

“I can cover for you. Just don’t hide your fears. It’s okay to be afraid.”

“Y-you’d be stupid enough to expose weakness in a FIGHT!?”

Fear spun around and locked blades with a fuming Kyoko as she leaned against the larger flaw. “You really are going to be the end of Jon one day! You think the enemy is going to care about your fear of spiders or fear of the dark!?” She scoffed.

You ignored the urge to help Fear fend her off as more apparitions wearing your friends' faces swarmed in. Focus on the apparitions.

“I n-never said that. But if Jon doesn’t think about what they’re afraid of, i-if they don’t keep that in mind… they’ll get sloppy, they’ll stop being c-cautious. T-they’ll forget what they used to care about, what it meant to them. Why they used to think things through.”

“LIAR!”

Fear grabbed her by the leg and used her to bat aside a row of apparitions. She immediately broke free and repaid it by cutting off one of its hands.

“Agh-! I-if they forget w-what they were so worried about, they’ll forget w-what they’re fighting for. They’ll lose track of w-what really matters.”

“T H E  F I G H T  I S  T H E  O N L Y  T H I N G  T H A T  M A T T E R S !” 

You nearly lost your concentration as your ears rang from the sheer volume of her scream. The apparitions doubled their assault.

“T H E  P A I N ,  T H E  S U F F E R I N G ,   T H E  R A G E !  T H E  H A T E !”

“It’s not the only thing t-that matters! That’s not what Jon cares about.”

Kyoko growled in pain and fury as the toxic wound on her stomach caused more and more waves of agony to spread throughout her body.

“T H E N  J O N ’ S  A  F O O L !”

“You don’t decide that.”

Fear punched Kyoko hard enough to send her flying back. It glanced behind it, towards you.

“J-Jon, what do you really care about? W-what are you afraid of?”

Weak. Puny. Pathetic. 

Worthless. Unimportant. Nobody. 

Nothing.

You shut those thoughts out as you reached deep into the recesses of your mind. Your eyes closed. Distantly, you were aware that the apparitions were trying to reach you as you stayed your hand to think. Distantly, you were aware that your own Fear was protecting you, diligently swatting them away as she renewed the assault on your mind to no avail.

“I’m… I’m…”

You let out a deep exhale.

“I’m afraid of the swords. I’m scared of what they might do to me, of what they’ll do to my relationships with my friends.”

You opened your eyes to see purple blobs, barely reaching your stomach, ripping themselves apart to take the apparitions down with them. Fear nudged you with the back of one of its hands as it turned back around.

“Keep going.”

“I’m afraid of my own destiny, that I might not even have my own choice in life!”

The blobs grew larger, now reaching to your head. They no longer had to rip themselves open to destroy the apparitions, instead consuming them like neutrophils to bacteria. Your phobias were growing stronger.

“S T O P !”

You heard a clash behind you as Fear did everything in its power to keep Kyoko from getting past it to reach you. Around the same time, the apparitions began to ignore the phobias, instead making a mad dash towards you as they dropped their swords in favor of reaching out to you, like zombies.

“KEEP GOING! YOU’RE A-ALMOST THERE, TELL US WHAT YOU’RE MOST AFRAID OF!”

The crimson tide of hollow humanoids was nearly breaking through the barrier of your phobias. You could feel Kyoko grasping at the hairs on your back as her fingers slowly closed the distance.

“I-I’M AFRAID FOR MY FRIENDS! I’M TERRIFIED THEY MIGHT GET HURT BECAUSE OF ME, A-AND I CAN’T BEAR TO SEE ANY OF THEM GET HURT! I MISS MY OLD LIFE AND I-I MISS NOT HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO PROTECT THEM, B-BECAUSE I HAD ALL THE SWORDS AT MY COMMAND!”

“N O O O O O ! ! !”

The phobias were now as big as Fear itself. They made short work of the remaining apparitions. Kyoko screamed behind you as Fear tore her arms and legs off. You spun around at the sickening sound.

She gasped for breath, parts of her face melting off as she struggled limply on the ground. You quickly walked beside Fear, staring at her in subdued horror as it pointed the Venomshank at her limbless body.

Kyoko looked up at you with tears in her eyes, and what made your heart roil in misplaced guilt was the fact that you didn’t know if she was faking them or not. “J-Jon. Please… all I ever did was make you stronger.” She sniffled, coughing up blood from the wound the Venomshank gave her at the start of the fight. “I-it’s… going to be the end of you if…”

“Your self-destructive ambitions are at an end. I-I can’t let you kill us all to satiate your need to hurt and make others suffer.”

She let her mouth hang open in despair as she rolled herself onto her back. “I… I don’t want to go…” your HATRED sobbed. “P-please don’t…”

From where she was lying, Fear’s towering form probably made it look deserving of such a moniker. The irony of it all was not lost on you, and only served to make the experience even more harrowing than it already was, even from your position of relative comfort. It even sounded like her…

You slowly shook your head, your expression darkening as you stowed away the Ice Dagger. “...do it,” you quietly mumbled, steeling yourself as you prepared to watch it do the deed.

Kyoko’s head shot up. “N-no, w-wait.” Fear’s largest right hand balled into a fist. “Wait, Jon, please! I’m sorry! I-I’ll never- I’ll never- YOU’LL NEVER SEE OR HEAR FROM ME AGAIN!” And still, Fear raised another fist, as stoic and emotionless as the blank triangle that it had for a face. “P-PLEASE! I’M SORRY! I DON’T- I-...”

Fear brought its fists down.

“I  D O N ’ T  W A N T  T O  G O - !”

You nearly looked away as Fear quickly pounded the ground and what was on it into pulp and viscera. The ground quite literally cracked as it continued to mercilessly barrage the fallen foe with all the strength it had to bear. Kyoko’s cries and desperate pleas died out in moments due to the sheer force and speed of its attacks. Its fists were a purple blur as it smashed what remained into an unrecognizable, crimson stain on the void floor.

By the time it stopped, all that was left was a crater in the floor and several messy, thick stains of dark red ichor.

“...holy fuck,” you mumbled, releasing a breath you didn’t know you were holding as your tense body finally relaxed. You still felt like puking at the sight, though, and you could just as easily imagine someone else being in that thing’s place…

Fear placed a hand on your shoulder as it turned to look at you.

“N-need a moment? I can w-”

“I’m fine,” you snapped. “Just… I think I’m gonna need a therapist after what I just saw.” You inhaled and exhaled, trying to calm your fraying nerves. “What now?”

Fear gave a shrug. It looked a bit comical, due to it doing so with all three pairs of arms.

“We wake up. I’m just glad you aren’t actively self-destructing anymore.”

Not so sure about that, you thought but didn’t say. “Sure, sure. I guess I just have to remember I’m… afraid, for everyone. Remember why I’m doing all of this, be as pure as possible… that’s how it’s supposed to go, right?”

“And the swords. We have to, eventually, destroy the swords. To keep everyone safe.”

You sighed in exhaustion. “Alright then. Let’s do this.” You managed not to shudder when Fear moved behind you and wrapped its arms around you in a protective embrace. With how tired you were from all of this, the ability to actually relax and feel safe was a welcome relief.

It was finally over.

VEhFIENBUFRJVkUgT0YgQ09OU1RFUk5BVElPTiBGRUFSUyBGT1IgRVZFUllUSElORyBJVCBIT0xEUyBERUFS

“Jon!”

The adventurer in question jolted awake, jumping to their feet before stumbling forwards, disoriented from their time spent passed out. “Goodness! Jerry, help them before they fall over again!”

The cyan penguin promptly ran forwards and stood beneath their arm, helping them prop themselves up as they quickly regained their bearings. “W-woah!” he nervously laughed. “Slow down, stranger! We found you all passed out down here-”

“ Dead, Jerry. They were dead,” Terry deadpanned, crossing his arms as he made his displeasure known on his face. “What the heck were you thinking?”

Jon quickly turned around, as if they weren’t being helped up by a diminutive little penguin at all. “T-the sword. Where’s the sword.”

“Right there, dimwit,” the dark blue penguin snarked, gesturing with a flipper towards the translucent blade still embedded in its pedestal. “Now, if you’d be so nice as to-” He blinked as Jon rushed past him in a burst of speed. “HEY! Don’t make drag your a-”

Terry’s words died in his mouth as they grabbed the Ghostwalker and easily pulled it out of the pedestal. Kitchen Wizard’s jaw hung open in shock, with Jerry gaping alongside him.

“...how.”

The question came from the ghostly chef, who was staring at the reborn adventurer with a grave, scrutinizing look. They swallowed as they stowed the sword away.

“I… I purified my soul.”

The Kitchen Wizard slowly leaned in. He gazed into their eyes, even as they nervously darted left and right in an attempt to escape his intense stare. Still, from what he could see, they were… fine, if not a little purple.

He slowly hovered back. “My apologies. I’d heard horror stories from the residents, and when I came upon you I was worried that…” The spectral man blew away the air as he glanced off to the side. “Nevermind that.”

Terry very loudly groaned, interrupting the somber moment as he began to waddle back to the ladder. “Aaaaalright, this is all very lovely but I have to go back to ROBLOX HQ. Buh-bye. Oh and by the way, no more stupid suicidal stunts or I will personally make sure you stay dead when I find you.”

“Terry!”

“Come on, Jerry, you know they deserve this crap.” The penguin huffed as he was almost out of the hatch leading to the basement. “Had me worried and everything…”

Jon very clearly caught that last sentence as the duo were leaving. They gave the Kitchen Wizard a meaningful look. “A-ah, yes. The blue thing ran to me and begged for me to help, saying you’d fallen unconscious and didn’t seem to be that alive. I felt terrible and came as quickly as I could…” He trailed off, rubbing his chin in thought. “But I feel like I’ve seen him before…”

He was brought out of his thoughts by the intrepid adventurer placing a hand on his shoulder. “T-thank you,” they stammered out, their eyes growing wet even as they struggled to maintain their composure.

“Don’t…” The ghostly chef trailed off a second time as he was abruptly hugged by them. “...mention it.” His expression slowly grew soft as he patted them on the back, letting them hold the hug for however long it took for them to regain their composure. When all that was done, they broke away from the embrace, wiping their eyes with their sleeve as they gave him a grateful smile. “I’m… I’m glad you feel better. You’re quite brave, you know, going through all of this just to prepare yourself for the duty of wielding the Ghostwalker. You’re one of the strongest-willed people I’ve ever met.”

“You’re gutsy. And I admire that about you.”

They nodded in response, wiping their eyes again as they cleared their throat. “I… thank you.” Their voice sounded a bit hoarse, though it was probably due to how long they were out more than anything.

“And I’ve cooked something to help wake you up, since I believed I’d need it to revive you earlier.” The ghostly man revealed a shark fin soup with a wave of his hand, handing it over to the gobsmacked explorer. “As it is, though, I hope this helps you feel better, Hero. I’m counting on you… but don’t think that means you have to shoulder all of this alone.” He floated past them and up the ladder. “If you need me, for anything, I’ll be in the manor kitchen. Be seeing you.”

Jon shut their eyes, slowly letting out a sigh as they felt the shark fin soup warming their hands. It was kinda hot. They stowed it away before it could start giving them burns.

This… wasn’t as bad as they thought. But that was probably because this was the calm before the storm, and they still had to deal with the storms in their head before they were ready for their next daunting adventure.

They knew just what they needed to do, right after accepting their fears.

I need to go talk to Kyoko.