Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Cass has been acting strangely recently… hasn't she?"

Kayleigh's question caused Meredith to turn from the gramophone. "It wasn't just me?"

"After we sparred with Kuneko yesterday, I sat down and drew Cass, and…" Felix flipped the pages of his sketchbook. "They were staring at the moon. It made a cool drawing, but…"

"They didn't realize they were staring at it until you went 'Hey, Cass, is there something momentous in there'?" Eugene asked. "I thought they were seeing something in there, but…"

"As well." Viola joined in. "... I believe she may be confusing my story for her own- she recounted a memory of mine to Frankie and seemed not to realize it was not hers."

"Wait… she mistook your memories for hers?!" Eugene's eyes widened. "I… some of their memories stayed in my head for a bit after we fused yesterday, but I didn't mistake them for my own!"

"Wait…" Kayleigh paused. "I think some of her memories stayed in my head the last time we fused, too…"

A silence filled the air, before Meredith sighed and spoke up at once. "Ok, we need to get our girlfriend to a doctor before she loses her identity or something. Where is she?"

"... She went off to go explore with Barkley..." Clemence put her hand to her chin. "I believe she was talking about doing ranger quests?"

"Cass?" Kayleigh called out, fear in her voice.

"CASS!?" Eugene yelled. "Cass, where are you?!"

"They said she'd be here..." Felix muttered. "So... why isn't she?"

"Cass, my love, please return to us..." Viola put her hand on her heart as she spoke.

"Cass, come out, I think you need a-" Meredith was interrupted by a dog tackling her and barking.

"BARKLEY!" Eugene yelled, running over to him at once. He bent down and started to dig his hands into Barkley's fur. "Who's a good boy, huh? Who's a good Barkley? Who's a good- oh, you wanna show us something? You wanna show us something, little guy? You wanna show us?"

Barkley trotted off of Meredith and led the group to... Cass, staring at the moon. The slight heave and flow of her chest was one of the only things proving she wasn't just frozen in that spot, still as she was. It was like she could see something nobody else could...

Barkley ran over to and jumped around her ankles, letting out little barks as he did so. No response.

"... Cass..." Kayleigh breathed in a shaky breath, tears at the corners of her cheeks, and ran over to her. "Cass, can you hear me? Cass?" Timidly, she moved a hand to touch Cass' shoulder.

Cass flinched, but kept staring at the moon.

"Come on... come on, I need to take you to the hospital..." She wrapped an arm around Cass' own. They offered no resistance, not even as she dragged them- Cass' feet moved alongside her, but their gaze was still directly at the full moon glowing in the sky. Kayleigh's eyes were full of tears at this point, her worry spilling out and into the grass below her feet.

The others stared, speechless, and wordlessly turned towards Harbourtown.

"Has she been battling a lot?"

Cass was currently sitting on the exam table in Harbourtown Hospital, staring at the light on the ceiling above them. Pensby stood nearby them, clipboard in hand.

"Well, we went on this whole battle rampage yesterday!" Eugene pumped his fists. "We fought some ranger trainees and also Vin and Frankie wanted to fight us, too-"

"Yesterday night, we went out to see the sights and ended up fighting some fusions we saw..." Felix said. "And also we encountered Kuneko and sparred with her, too..."

"You know how I was out with Cass today?" Kayleigh rubbed her arm. "She was really battle-hungry between all that... weird staring behavior..." She looked down. "... I should have had her come in to see you sooner. I..."

"It's alright, Kayleigh." Pensby said. "I believe she is suffering the side effects of overusing her tapes. Specifically, her Mothmanic tape." Pensby walked over to and flipped a switch, turning off the light and bathing the room in darkness.

"Wha-?" Cass stirred in an instant. "Where..."

"You're in the hospital, don't worry." Pensby said. "Now, what's the last thing you remember?"

"Light..." She mumbled. "There was light..." A pause- was she looking around? "It was pretty..." She gave a dry laugh. "Vivi... told me once... not to get so distracted..."

"Vivi?" Kayleigh asked.

"Cass, do you think you'll be able to focus on us if I turned the light back on?"

"Maybe... I don't know." Cass said. "It's so pretty... my brain just stops working..."

"Cass, I'm going to turn the light back on, ok?" Pensby said. "If you get too distracted, I'll turn it off again."

A click and light returned at once. Cass turned their head back to the light, smiling a dopey smile.

"Cass, who do you mean by 'Vivi'?" Kayleigh asked.

"Vivi, my best friend..." They responded. "Roommate. We were buddies."

"Don't you think you would have mentioned her to me by now?" She asked.

"Or me?" Felix added. "Y'know, we were talking about pals we had from our world, one time..."

"She came here with me." Cass said. "... Died. Stupid bird. But I got revenge... with... with..."

"Oh... oh..." Eugene looked at Barkley, who was currently curled in on himself. "Her name was Vivi, huh?"

Barkley whimpered.

"It's alright." He bent down and gave Barkley a few pets."

"Cass, do you remember how you ended up in New Wirral?" Pensby asked.

"That's easy!" She smiled. Her gaze was still on the light above, but... at least she was responding? "My apartment fell down with me... crash landed near the Ranger Outpost... startled everyone involved- including me." She laughed. "At least I got to keep my- my zote view- zote viewer..." She trailed off yet again. "No, no... on the beach, on the beach... My glasses ended up knocked off of my face..." She shook her head. "No, I ended up near the Autumn Hill. That's how I ended up spending two years by his side..."

"... Cass, have you been fusing a lot lately?"

Cass nodded.

"Alright." Pensby wrote something down in her clipboard. "I believe you may be experiencing side effects from both tape overuse and too much fusion. I suggest you get some bedrest and allow your mind time to distinguish between your memories and your partners', alongside allowing your acquired monster instincts to fade." She said. "In the meantime, I'd like for you to find other activities outside of monster battles- I know it must be your preferred way to spend time with your partners, but fusion and transformation can take a toll on you if you do them for too long. I suggest you stay in your room- I doubt you've been spending much time there recently, after all."

Cass moved to speak, eyes off the light for a few seconds, but put her arm down and closed her mouth. Kayleigh went over to and led Cass off of the table, wrapping her arms around Cass' own and taking the first steps towards the exit.

Everything felt... woozy. Looking at the moon made her brain feel all happy and blank...

Cass... remembered living in six different locations, but the place Kayleigh led her to was probably the correct one. 

She can't see the moon from here.

Kayleigh... pushed her on the bed? Guided her? How much did she need? All she processed is that she was on her bed, in her house, and Kayleigh's why.

... She felt tired. Maybe some bedrest was a good idea... How long has it been since she's slept in her own room, again? Cass closed her eyes.

Everything faded to black, until...

"Cass. Hey. Cass. Cassette." Eugene said, poking her. "Cassie. Cass."

"Wha...?" Cass opened an eye- hidden underneath her hair as it was. "What is it?"

Eugene gave Cass a smooch and smiled, before moving something up into Cass' vision. "Surprise!" He grinned. "Chocolate pie!"

Opening both eyes did indeed show it was a chocolate pie, with whipped cream that made her feel like salivating on the spot. It also revealed the other people standing behind Eugene- the rest of her polycule.

 "Thank you." Cass smiled. "Sorry I made you all worry last night."

"We all pitched in so that Clemence could make that pie for you... It's the least you deserve." Kayleigh sighed. "I should have noticed something, before-"

"I should have noticed something, Kayleigh." Cass snorted. "I mean... I thought our bartering system was 'like where I was from' and... didn't notice anything off about that. I stared at lights because they made my head feel weird, to the point that other people got worried about me, and I didn't even think of seeing a doctor."

Kayleigh paused. "...But..."

"Kayleigh." Cass said, glaring. "If you should have said something, everyone should have."

"That and, well..." Meredith said. "You did say something. To us." She scoffed. "I would have just thought it was an off day or something- and then who knows what would have happened to you that night?"

"Probably would have wandered the place." Cass said. "I remember... walking a lot." Not where she was, mind you, but just... walking. The feeling of walking. "Anyways, let's eat this together, shall we?"

"B- But-" Kayleigh stammered. "It's-"

"Better shared." Cass smiled. "Now, should we use this bed as a table, or should we go eat this downstairs?" She asked, already shuffling out of the bed. "And make sure Barkley's fed this time." She snorted. "I don't want a more worrying repeat of my polycule dinner."

Cass was right: the pie did taste better shared.