Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was a normal (what they estimated to be) day, at least for the survivors, when he appeared.

Most of the others were in a round, leaving only Dusekkar, Shedletsky, Elliot and Two Time in the lobby, specifically, the living room.

Only Dusekkar and Shedletsky were talking, what they were talking about wasn’t important, at least for the situation they were soon to be faced with, Elliot simply had nothing better to do than sit in the living room, and Two Time was in front of the fireplace, praying, when suddenly, there was a sound, like various things popping into existence behind the couch.

Shedletsky was the first to turn around, and immediately it was apparent what had made that sound, various boxes, a note on one of them, and wrapped in a dark blue blanket…

“IS THAT A BABY?!”

That instantly got the attention of the other three, immediately either turning around or getting up to investigate their new resident and, lo and behold, it was indeed a sleeping baby. Wrapped in a blue blanket that made it look like a pill, with white skin (atleast, on their head), a few black strands of hair on its head, and what looked to be small wings poking from its back.

Elliot was the first to hesitantly get up and try to get near the baby, acting more like it was a bomb than a baby really, he took note of the note on one of the boxes, read it, and his eyes seemed to widen, turning to the baby, and then to Two Time, who compared to the others seemed less nervous and more curious.

Elliot’s mouth closed and opened repeatedly, looking between the note, the baby, and then Two Time, before he finally said something.

“It’s yours.”

Shedletsky and Dusekkar’s head immediately snapped to the cultist, whose expression was a cocktail of shock and confusion, instantly walking closer to Elliot and snatching the note from him, they stared at it for a while, before a wide grin broke their face.

“Oh…” they began to laugh, a gleeful, manic thing, dropping the note and picking up the baby in its place, continuing to laugh as they spoke.

“Oh how the spawn has blessed me on this day! They even look so much like he did! A shame I didn’t get to name them myself…but Philighost…oh The Spawn blessed them with that name himself!” Two Time rambled and rambled, holding the baby like it was the most precious thing they’d ever seen, reverence in their eyes like when they prayed to their god.

Meanwhile, Elliot, Dusekkar and Shedletsky were all sharing the same thought.

What.

“Little ghost…please…accept my offering…” Two Time tried to sound at least a bit composed, trying to feed Philighost. Unfortunately, he seemed to simply refuse, smacking away the bottle Two Time offered and continuing the cry.

Three days (assuming there was only one round a day) into having Philighost, Two Time looked like a mess. They usually looked like a mess anyway, but now they seemed even worse off, their hair was a bird's nest, their skin somehow paler, bags under their eyes heavy enough to crush rocks, thankfully they hadn’t gotten any thinner, but at the rate they were going they probably would.

Unfortunately, when offered help, Two Time would refuse, going on some rant about how The Spawn had blessed them and it was their duty and theirs alone to care for the little one, so most of the others had simply begun to watch in pity and some sympathy.

…With the exception of two.

“Ya sure the bottle’s the right temp?” Guest asked.

“…Pardon?” Two Time tilted their head, bringing the bottle to Philighost only to have it smacked out of their hand, they sighed, bending to pick it up, but stopping as someone else picked it up instead. Looking up, they saw it was 007n7.

“Sometimes if a baby isn’t drinking it’s because the bottle isn’t the right temperature." 007n7 added. “Like uh…hand me your arm real quick?” Two Time did just that, curious to what the ex-exploiter planned to do. 

He held the bottle upside down, a drop of milk coming down onto Two Time’s arm, before bringing it back up right. “Is it hot or cold?”

“Cold.” 

“Well then we have to heat it up.” Guest explained. He gestured for Two Time to follow. “Don’t have a microwave so we’ll need to heat it on the stove.” He sighed. 

“Won’t the bottle melt?” Two Time inquired.

“…we’re putting the milk in a saucepan.” Guest chuckled, bringing out a pot from one of the cabinets. Two Time went from concerningly pale to slightly pink in an instant. That probably should have been obvious, then again, they hadn’t exactly slept a lot recently…

007n7 handed Guest the bottle, to which he uncapped it and poured the contents into the pan after placing said pan on the stove. He turned one of the dials, and the three of them waited for the milk to heat up.

“…so…” 007n7 began after a few moments. “How is the little one?” He asked.

“Fine, exploiter,”   Two Time smiled, though 007n7 winced. “As- ow- sweet as a lamb, he’s truly a blessing from the spawn.” They elected to ignore that Philighost was currently pulling on their hair.

“Alright that’s…good.” 007n7’s eyes drifted over Two Time. “What about you?”

“Hm?”

“How are you?” 007n7 asked.

“I’m…” Two Time hesitated. “Fine.” They eventually decided.

“You sure about that?” Guest asked, turning off the stove. He picked up the bottle and squinted. “…didn’t think about how I’d get it back in…” he muttered, lowering the bottle and picking up the pan as he tried to figure out the best way to prevent spilling the milk.

“…of course, the spawn has blessed me and I’m alive, why shouldn’t I be fine?” Two Time continued to smile, strained as it was.

007n7 raised an eyebrow. “…Not to be rude, Two Time, but you look like my roommate did in college after pulling five all-nighters.” Guest snorted, seeming to have figured out how to get the milk back in the bottle. “You can take breaks, Y’know? There’s 10 of us not including you and Phil here.” He offered.

“He’s my blessing though, exploiter.” Two Time shot back. “The spawn gave me him myself, therefore he’s my responsibility.” They grunted when Philighost pulled on their hair once more.

“Just cause he’s your kid doesn’t mean you gotta take care of him alone.” Guest explains. “Can you give me your arm again?” They offered it once more, and hissed at the feeling of boiling hot milk on their skin. “Alright, too hot, got to wait for it to cool.”

“I…suppose taking care of children back home was a community effort.” They hadn’t been raised in the teachings of spawn, but they’d heard stories from Azure’s childhood and seen the children of their fellow believers. While it was traditional for one to raise their own children there’d certainly been help from others. Two Time themself had even been roped into babysitting children, albeit they’d been a few years older than their own.

“Yeah,” Guest pat them on the shoulder “it takes a village. Now, arm?” They offered it once more. The milk was warm. “Not too hot?” Two Time shook their head. “Alright, now try.” Two Time took the bottle and offered it once more to Philighost. They watched him happily drink, finally satiated.

“Thank you, exploiter, soldier.” 007n7 cringed at his own title while Guest simply nodded. “Just helping a fellow parent.” He chuckled.

Right, Guest was a father, and no one could really forget 007n7 was one too, considering his son hunted them all for sport on a weekly basis.

“What was…your own child like?” They found themself asking.

Guest blinked, not really expecting, before beginning to speak once more, telling various stories of what life was like before, years ago, with his wife and daughter, 007n7 occasionally chiming in with his own story about c00lkidd.

Two Time simply listened, gently holding Phil and the bottle as they fed them. It wasn’t often that they actually talked to their fellow survivors, whenever they said anything they’d always get weird looks from the others, but they…didn’t quite mind the company Guest and 007n7 were providing.

…they suppose they could take up that offer to help take care of Philighost.

(Later they figured out they would have needed help anyway, seeing as they still got pulled into rounds, they’d had to quickly scramble to get Philighost into the arms of the closest survivor who wasn’t chosen.)

“H-hi Two Ti- what are you doing?”

It was the middle of a round, of which Guest, Shedletsky, Builderman, Noob and Two Time hadn’t been chosen for, though about half of the survivors chosen for the round had ended up back in the cabin by now.

Two Time looked up from their task, Philighost’s dark blue  blanket in one hand and a needle in the other.

“Ah, hello Noob.” The cultist greeted. “Just making clothes for Philighost.” They answered, turning back to their task which…Noob was pretty sure they didn’t know what they were doing. “Can’t let him stay a pill baby forever-ah.” They laughed, wincing as they pricked themself with the needle.

“…have you ever um…have you ever sown before?” Noob asked.

Two Time sheepishly shook their head. “No, but I have observed others sew before though!” They quickly added. “I’m sure I can learn.”

Noob stared at them for a moment before saying anything more. “I could uh…I could help and uh…teach you?” They offered.

“Oh?” Two Time tilted their head. “You know how to sew?”

“Y-yeah!” Noob smiled. “I used to cosplay before all this and sometimes I’d have to make my own parts for my costumes.“  they held out their hand, and it took a moment for Two Time to realize that Noob was waiting for them to hand the needle and blanket to them, to which they obliged.

“Hm, T-this doesn’t really seem like enough for the little one- where is he by the way?” Noob asked.

“Oh, Guest is watching over him for me.” Two Time answered. “He and n7 have been quite the help.”

Noob nodded “That’s good to hear, I couldn’t really imagine raising a kid in this place.” Noob placed the blanket on the table and raised an eyebrow. “This doesn’t look like enough fabric.”

“Well there was going to be a hole in the back for his wings like there is for mine…” they explained. “So of course there’s less fabric.

“Uh…” Noob studied it for a moments “just in case I’m going to find some more, better to have to much than too little.” They chuckle. “Wait here-“ they got off and went outside the dining area, leaving Two Time to themself for the moment.

Two Time hummed, staring at the blanket. Dark blue was a nice color. It fit for Philighost, or perhaps Two Time had grown used to the color. They remember a time when they heard the word ‘azure’ and thought of such a color, but now when they thought of said word all that came was purple…

They quickly try to change the topic on their mind. Philighost had been with them for what was estimated to be 5 months, he’d been getting more active, Two Time occasionally having to stop him from rolling off of things. Guest had recommended trying to get him on some sort of solids. A bit of a challenge since the food they provided was…a bit lackluster, but whatever took them here had at least begun to provide some sort of baby food alongside the formula that was occasionally dropped off (typically just before they’d run out and had to start rationing…just like with their food actually.), so they’d begun trying to feed him that alongside the formula. 

Things were going well, surprisingly. There was definitely some…hiccups, along the way (the aforementioned rationing problem also extended to diapers, they once nearly accidentally dropped him because they hadn’t slept in two days and thought the blurriness in their vision was because of that, they once had to leave him with only Chance, Shedletsky and Veeronica, sometimes they’d look at him for too long because every little feature from his thick black hair to the purple glowing eyes to the tar like texture of his body reminded them of-)

“I’m back!” Noob announced, a wad of cloth in hand. “This should be enough for a few shirts, now, I’ll sew two or three and explain the steps and then you can begin sewing alongside me after that, now-“

It was a very informative few hours. One that would be explained if the person writing this knew how to sew but it can’t so instead that part will just be glossed over.

Two Time learned a lot from that experience, mainly how to sew of course. And also that they had very shaky hands. A few of the shirts and pants they made were a bit more on the lopsided side, but they were passable.

Though there was one thing missing from the shirts…

“Can you sew stuff onto them after they’re made?” Two Time inquired. 

“Yeah?” 

“I’d like some help getting the spawn’s mark onto these then.” Two Time held up the shirts, about 8 of them.

Noob had an oddly nervous look in their eye, before shaking their head and nodding. “A-alright, I guess I can help you with…that…”

It was a peaceful day for Dusekkar. An 8 person round in which he, Two Time, and Taph did not participate. He’d taken to reading in the main cabin, while Taph sat across from him tinkering with one of his Subspace trip mines. Two Time had been…less unhinged lately. Something Dusekkar thought would never be possible, but apparently their time spent with 007n7, Guest, Noob on top of raising their son had distracted them enough from…whatever Two Time usually did. 

Of course that didn’t mean they were…completely there. They still had their belief in the spawn. Still took hours of the day just praying (albeit they’d at least stop if Philighost began to cry). They’d somehow acquired a scripture of their religion and begun to read it to Philighost (Dusekkar tried hiding it several times. How they found it again he’d never know). And of course all of Philighost’s clothes had that symbol on them…but at least they weren’t spending every other moment praising the spawn and they would actually take care of themself. That was what Dusekkar took from the entire situation at least.

Honestly he’d expected things to go horribly wrong when a random baby with a note saying it was Two Time’s showed up. This realm wasn’t exactly a place one would want to raise a child, and with Two Time as the parent? Dusekkar was sure the child would end up messed up in some way.

Dusekkar was still pretty sure Philighost would end up messed up in some way, but at the very least he was sure if he did it wouldn’t be to the same extent as Two Time, and it’d mainly be the fault of the realm itself rather than poor parenting choices. 

Two Time had been relatively quiet themself today, they’d come into the main cabin only twice today so far, once to feed Philighost and await who would be picked for the next round, and the second time to grab their scripture which Dusekkar had once again hidden. (Again, he had no idea how they kept finding it)

Dusekkar was almost beginning to believe Two Time was becoming nor-

Two Time barged into the cabin, a wide smile on their face and a manic look in their eyes, before promptly yelling a jumble of words that Dusekkar could not even begin to understand. Whether it was because they were panicked or because their accent was slipping was anyone’s guess. Either way Taph ended up dropping his tripmine out of surprise and well-

It was a stroke of luck that no one ended up injured.

“Two Time-“ Dusekkar nearly fell as he tried to reorient himself, looking at the still manic cultist. “Your words are incomprehensible, friend of mine, perhaps try saying them with a clearer mind?” He prompted, he couldn’t quite tell Two Time’s expression due to the blurred vision caused by the explosion, but the ringing in his ears was at least quiet enough that he could hear what they had to say.

“Divine Pumpkin, Demolistinist, have either of you seen my blessing?!” They still sounded panicked, something Dusekkar hadn’t actually ever heard from them.

“Your son I did not detect, he was with you, last I checked.” Dusekkar tilted his head, and Taph shook his head alongside him.

Dusekkar could now see that Two Time’s smile was now practically nonexistant, now just a look of panic.

“No, no he wasn’t I went to grab the sacred texts and I came back to where I set him down and he wasn’t there and oh spawn give me strength-“ 

“Calm, you need to be, or there could be a hefty fee.” Dusekkar tried to quell them. “Breathe…” he whispered repeatedly until Two Time’s breathing was relatively normal. “Find him we will try, as I believe he is nearby.” Dusekkar consoled.

“Right- right yes…he’s only…8 months old? We’ll find him we’ll find him…” Two Time muttered, flinching when Taph came up to them and patted them on the shoulder, giving them a thumbs up.

Two Time slowly nodded at them, before turning around and running out the cabin, calling for Philighost.

They searched for 15 minutes, but it felt like eternity as Two Time seemed to get more and more manic, even browning out their dagger and carving the spawn symbol into the side of the main cabin and praying at it before continuing the search, but eventually, Taph was to find Philighost and well…

“🤔👻☝️🏠?”

Dusekkar felt like he didn’t get payed enough for this. As if he got payed at all. Because sitting atop the main cabin was Philighost, looking down at them with curious eyes.

“…that is…perplexing…” was all Dusekkar could say, not even bothering to rhyme. 

“OH DEAR SPAWN!” Two Time yelled. “PHILI GET DO- NO WAIT THAT WOULD REQUIRE YOU TO FALL OH SPAWN OH SPAWN-“ This was the most panicked Dusekkar had ever seen the cultist, usually so calm but falling apart in this very moment, was that what parenthood does to a person? Dusekkar is suddenly very glad he never had kids (his brothers were already enough for him).

“🎃☝️🤲👻?” Taph asked.

“Yes.” Dusekkar responded. “Yes that I shall do.” He began to float upwards, his flying height limit in the lobby much less reduced than it was during rounds, and once he reached the top of the cabin, grabbed Philighost by the leg, cringing a bit at the slimy feeling as he floated down, holding the baby upside down and handing him to Two Time.

“Divine Pumpkin that is…not how you hold a baby.” Two Time was still breathing quite heavily from their near panic attack.

“…I got him down.” Dusekkar shrugged. It wasn’t like he got hurt, and it was how Dusekkar had held his younger two siblings when they were younger.

“How did you even get up there, little gh-“ they were answered immediately when a tentacle emerged from under the neck hole of Philighost’s shirt and wrapped a little bit around their arm.

“Oh.” They gasped. “Wow…you really are…a blessing from the spawn…” they chuckled a bit nervously, turning around and adjusting their grip on him. “Now little ghost, it’s time for some gospel.” They smiled, heading to the cabin that they had begun using as Philighost’s nursery.

Dusekkar watched after them. Wondering what the hell had even happened within the last hour.

Philighost was…interesting.

He was quiet, which isn’t to say he didn’t cry, he definitely did, but he was just…unusually quiet when he wasn’t crying, especially considering he was practically a newborn (as estimated by Builderman and Guest 1337). That and his…general biology.

First off was his wings and tail, just like Two Time’s in their second life, though these were much more permanent judging by the fact he’d had them since he’d gotten here (it seemed to only increase Two Time’s conviction that he was conjured by The Spawn itself). Then his eyes, which glowed a familiar, eerie purple, and finally, the…composition of his body. Outside his eyes his head was pretty normal, just like most robloxian babies his hair grew in pretty quick, thick and black, but the rest of his body was another story. 

From the sight of their limbs alone, and the few times Two Time had actually allowed anyone else to hold Phil, his body outside his head, wings and tail was almost tar-like. Robloxians could come in all shapes and sizes of course, some of the survivors themself weren't completely human, but Two Time, while falling under that category (albeit, no one knew if that applied before they were Forsaken), didn’t have a tar like body…or tentacles.

Which brought its own question.

Who the hell was the other parent?

There was a…tentative theory of who it was, though it had some implications, considering who it was and the timing.

No one ever brought it up, they were a bit too afraid to utter the name, not quite sure what they’d get out of it or how Two Time would react.

Philighost quickly blended into the survivors routine a couple dozen or so rounds into him being there, seemingly a permanent resident of the survivors cabin, he was never brought into rounds, so they assumed he was like the NPC’s, albeit a bit more sapient.

And then, when he was presumed to be 10 months old, he was brought into a round.

It’d been a normal enough day, Two Time had Philighost on a blanket on the floor of the main cabin, watching him play with some toys Builderman had managed to cobble together for the boy, when the familiar blur to their vision that occurred before a round had taken hold, Builderman called out to see who was going.

Most of the cabin, excluding Elliot, Veeronica, 007n7 and Noob, raised their hands. Philighost raised his hand as well, though he’d done that several times before, a copy of the adults around him.

A seven person round. A bit odd, but not uncommon. 007n7 came over to where Two Time had been sitting on the ground, playing Peekaboo, and sat next to them. 

“Good luck.” He waved, and Two Time nodded to him. They could hear Philighost crying, probably hungry, but that was fine, 007n7 could feed him.

Two Time blinked, standing atop the castle besides Shedletsky in Brandon’s place, and as they prepared to begin their ritual-

They heard a cry from below.

They looked down, to their left, and their eyes widened.

They nearly dropped their dagger, a good thing they didn’t, while they knew their dagger couldn’t hurt other survivors (at least, judging by the fact Chance’s bullets couldn’t either), even they knew how dangerous it would be to have the dagger come that close to a baby.

Because Philighost was here, crying, probably disoriented from being teleported for the first time. Instantly they bent down and held their son, hands shaking.

“Little ghost…what are you doing here?” They whispered, Phil’s crying paused and he began to giggle, reaching towards them.

“Uh…” Shedletsky looked between Two Time and Philighost. “This is…unfortunate.”

Two Time stared at the ex-admin with a glare that was as sharp as their dagger. “I wasn’t aware, admin.” They hissed, holding Phili closer and closer. 

Why was he here? He wasn’t even old enough to walk, just barely old enough to even talk according to 007n7. He probably didn’t even have anything that could qualify as an ability. He was too young to be here. Everyone had thought he was stuck in the cabin, so why was he here now? After so many rounds of being in their cabin?

Two Time walked over to the edge of the castle, looking over, they could see Guest charging towards something, presumably the killer, on the other side of the map. Good. That was…good. They didn’t know who the killer was yet. For all they knew it could be Noli- actually scratch that, there wasn’t a generator up there, which probably meant there were no fakes. So at the very least they wouldn’t have to worry about the killer suddenly teleporting to them. They couldn’t hear any giggling or roars either, which meant no c00lkidd, John Doe or Guest 666. Perhaps Slasher? He didn’t speak at all. 

They’d…rather not think of the final possibility.

They could…they could just do what they did when they first got here and hide. If it was Slasher like they were hoping then as long as they kept their guard up and stayed far away he’d never see them. And if Slasher did find them…well. Two Time could fight back. Things would be fine. Philighost would be fine.

They stayed atop the castle, trying to keep Philighost entertained, Shedletsky had gone down the slope and was fixing a nearby generator, while they stood near the edge, looking out for-

An explosion went off in the distance, one of Taph’s trip mines,Taph himself running from behind the structure in front of Brandon World, and running behind him was-

Was…

Oh Spawn.

Spawn, why him ? Any other killer but him . Oh spawn…

They backed away from the edge, not wanting him to catch even a glimpse of either of them. He would certainly kill Two Time if he caught them, and while they would love to think he wouldn’t kill Phili…

They’d…rather not leave him alone like that.

Their thoughts were interrupted by footsteps. And they didn’t have to turn around to know that Taph had decided to make the castle his hiding spot. Without a second thought Two Time tightened their grip on Philighost and jumped from the castle, landing quickly on their feet and booking it to the other side of the map.

They winced, passing by the body of Guest, and then Chance, and then-

Something lashed out at Two Time, hitting them across the head, they yelped, looking to the wall and finding one of Azure’s snares, flowers appearing in their vision.

“Oh spawn…give me strength…” they muttered. Philighost giggled within their hold. Right. Right him, the reason they were running in the first place.

“…yes yes, your toto getting hit is very funny Philighost…” they let out a dry chuckle. At least they weren’t scared…

Two Time’s thoughts were interrupted by a body being flung across the map. Shedletsky’s.

It dawned on Two Time in that moment, as they walked forward towards where Brandon World was.

They’d seen Guest and Chance’s body.

Taph was probably dead.

Shedletsky was undoubtedly dead too.

And…

Builderman lied still on the ground.

and they could see Dusekkar’s pumpkin head detached from its body…

It was just them…Philighost…and…

“TWO TIME!”

The hat atop his head crooned.

Two Time booked it without a second thought, immediately regretting it when they heard some sort of sound from the other direction and all of a sudden they were hit in the leg by a nearby snare.

They hissed, falling onto their knees. Their leg felt broken. They’d ran with a broken leg on multiple occasions before, it’d be fine.

They then heard a whimper from Philighost.

They looked down, panicked.

“It’s…it’s ok little ghost…it’s ok…please don’t cry please…” they whispered, they tried to wipe the flowery vision from their eyes, trying not to cry with their child.

Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do to quell the cries from Philighost.

No doubt he was coming their way, no doubt Two Time would soon be dead, Two Time in that moment did nothing but pray, just praying and praying.

“…Please Spawn please don’t let harm come to my baby please…”

They begged and begged in near silent whispers, not noticing when the footsteps behind them suddenly stopped.

What is…that

Azure stared at the scene before them.

There kneeled an injured Two Time, crying, clutching something in their arms.

Said something was also crying.

“What are you doing…attack them!” His hat yelled at him.

He didn’t respond. Simply staring at what was held by Two Time.

Wrapped in a dark blue shirt, black hair cascading down its back, small wings and a tail whipping behind it, was a baby. One that looked so much like Two Time and…

Azure couldn’t argue its resemblance with both his old and current appearance. 

But wouldn’t he have remembered if he’d been expecting?

…he couldn’t remeber…

He couldn’t…

He…

He gasped and panted. Spawn, it’d been painful. He’d initially planned on doing this alone but apparently 1x1x1x1 had heard his screams and, despite being the embodiment of hatred themself, had barged into their room, muttering something about how annoying their screams were, dragging Noli and Slasher with them as the only somewhat coherent, adult killers.

Literally none of them had medical experience, and it’d been a miracle that they’d even managed to get even remotely through this.

“GET OUT!” The hat, unfortunately, decided to yell from where Azure had set it on their nightstand before he’d had his baby. And unfortunately 1x, Slasher and Noli had listened and left.

He’d prefer to not be alone…but it wasn’t like he could actually say anything to the other killers himself. So it was just him and his baby.

A little boy with a white head and purple eyes, the rest of his body tar-like just like Azure’s own, several thin strands of black hair on his little head, a pair of spawn shaped wings and a tail.

He looked so much like Azure and so much like…them.

He hadn’t even known he was expecting when they’d killed him. It’d been too soon to know. And now…

They suppose single parenthood would be the way for him. He wasn’t quite sure the other killers would be of any help. That was fine. Many had done it before him. He’d known of quite a few single parents back home actually…a bit odd how many there actually were now that he thought about it.

They pulled their child closer to him, letting him feed, as he thought of names for him.

‘Phil could work well for his document name…now a username…Phil…Phili…’ he glanced at his child, noting how vibrantly white his head was against the rest of him, almost like a ’…Ghost…Philighost could be a fine name until he can come up with his own.’ He decided.

After feeding his son he reached out for something he’d had placed on his nightstand for when Phili was eventually born, it was right next to his hat, which was grumbling something he couldn’t quite understand. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was Philighost, who was now wrapped safely in a dark blue blanket.

Philighost.

Philighost

Philighost…

‘Philighost?’

That’s right. He had been pregnant. He’d been pregnant and he’d had a baby and he was beautiful and then he’d been called into a round and then he…

He’d returned to an empty room. And for the next two rounds no matter what happened he’d refused to attack. Simply sitting in a corner and crying.

And then. Something made him forget.

Made him forget his baby.

Had taken him and apparently left him with his other progenitor.

Said progenitor who was now injured and sobbing and clutching the baby so close to themself and…

Azure couldn’t find any rage in himself at the moment. Looking at his former partner and his baby.

No. All he could find himself doing was walking towards them, watching Two Time’s head whip around, watching them shift Philighost to one arm as they scrambled to grab their dagger, watched them back away from  Azure, still on the ground, pointing the dagger at him.

“Please…” they cried. “Please just don’t…by the spawn please…”  The expression on their face was manic, but not the usual mania of someone consumed with obsession. No. This was the manic desperation of someone not fighting for their own life, but someone else’s.

They slowly raised their hands in the air besides himself and nodded his head, ignoring whatever his hat was screaming at that moment. He sat on the ground, looking at Two Time and Philighost.

They had hours left on the clock, about 4, seeing as they weren’t going to go into Last Man Standing.

There was plenty of time to…find a way to communicate without the assistance of their frankly incredibly antagonistic hat.

This was the most terrified Two Time had been in their life. And they’d been hunted for sport for Spawn knows how long, they’d had plenty of moments of terror.

Just because they’d been blessed by the spawn and came back every time didn’t mean they weren’t afraid of dying. It’d just lessened.

But now it wasn’t their own death they were fearing. No. It was Philighost’s.

Sure, he could probably come back like the rest of them, but…he was still a baby. And he was Two Time’s blessing. And he was so small and if anything happened to him Two Time doesn’t know what they’d do.

And now they were sitting across from their former partner. Who’d been hellbent on killing them moments ago, now just staring at them and their baby, or, mostly just their baby. Not doing anything. Sure his hat was yelling at them and it was making Philighost cry and Two Time had to rock them back and forth one handed several times and they were sure he was hungry at this point and their other arm was getting tired from pointing their dagger at Azure but-

…it was oddly peaceful.

The hat, about an hour into its insult spree, finally gave up, and Azure did something that looked like a sigh.

Philighost was still crying. Probably hungry. Unfortunately Two Time had nothing to feed him, and they weren’t sure how much longer this round would go.

Maybe if nothing happened long enough the round would end early?

They began to whisper to Philighost. Occasionally glancing up at Azure to make sure no sudden moves were made.

“…it’s ok…” they muttered. “…We’ll be back soon and you’ll be fed and we can forget this ever happened and you can play with your toys and I can read you stories from the gospel…” they whispered and whispered and-

What in the spawn name was Azure doing?

He was…gesturing at himself. At his chest, and then at Philighost, and then repeating it.

Two Time stared at him, lowering their dagger at the ridiculous display.

“…pardon?” He wasn’t trying to say what they think he was trying to say, right?

He let out a huff, and held out his hands.

Oh. He was.

“…you…” they hesitated. “…You aren’t going to kill him, are you?”

The killer’s face shifted, immediately shaking his head.

Two Time still hesitated for a minute or two. But the cries of Philighost and the glare that Azure kept shooting at them that made them sure that if they hesitated any longer they’d surely be dead made them cave.

They kept their hand on their dagger, watching Azure pull up his shirt enough to expose enough of himself for Philighost to begin suckling.

…It took far too long for Two Time to realize that Azure was capable of feeding Philighost in the first place.

…A few things clicked into place in Two Time’s mind.

As much as Two Time called Philighost their blessing from the spawn, there’d always been a part of them that knew that Philighost had to have another parent. And not even taking his appearance into account, there was really only one option.

But that would mean that when Two Time made their sacrifice, Azure would have been…

Oh.

They’d killed them both.

“…I’m sorry.” Two Time whispered.

Azure looked up at them. Head tilted. Philighost’s meal had apparently ended, as he was now staring at Azure, his…his other parent.

“You should be.” Azure’s hat hissed. Two Time cringed. Though they were far from denying it being a deserved response.

Azure huffed once more, looking down at Phili, slowly bringing one of their tentacles up to the baby.

Two Time tried not to tighten their grip on their dagger, watching as one of Philighost’s own tentacles emerged and grabbed at the bigger one,  giggling, before attempting to shove it in his mouth (Azure stopped that last one, probably a good call, Two Time had no clue what Azure was made out of…then again, Philighost was also made out of that).

“How…” Two Time hesitated. “…how long did you have him for?” They found themself asking.

Azure’s brow furrowed, trying to remember any details, and even his hat seemed to furrow its brow before finally opening its mouth to respond.

“Two hours.”

Two Time looked at him in horror.

Builderman and Guest had been very correct in their estimate of the little one’s age. A mere two hours for Azure to hold his own son. And now he would only get another few or so with him before Two Time and Philighost had to go.

“…you can hold him for the rest of the round.” They told him. Their grasp on their dagger faltered. If Azure wanted to kill either of them at that moment, he would have done so an hour or so ago. Azure looked at them, surprise evident, before slowly nodding, head turning slowly to look at their son.

The two of them sat like that, Two Time not speaking for the next two and a half hours. Not even Azure’s hat made a peep, clearly realizing nothing it said at the moment would be listened to. Azure just spent the time holding Philighost close. Watching the little one enraptured be enraptured by the appearance of the new (Two Time was sure Philighost wouldn’t be able to remeber Azure, as horrible as that was) person before them before he inevitably yawned and drifted to slumber. Leaving the two adults to silently stare at each other.

Two Time wasn’t sure what, but something shifted between them during that round. They wished they could say what it was, but words failed Two Time. And before they could think of something, anything to say, they awoke back in the cabin, sitting in a seat with Philighost in the seat across from them, the top of his head just barely visible from where he sat with his hands splayed across the chair, slowly blinking the sleep from his eyes.

All Two Time had to say to anyone was that the killer wasn’t willing to kill a child so young, and the others had taken that explanation. It was the truth after all, just not the whole of it.

Two Time wondered about what the next round with Azure would be like.

(Azure wakes up in his room after a loss.

He feels tears falling down his face.

Why is he crying? He isn’t quite sure.

It feels as if he’s forgotten something important.)

“Toto!”

Two Time blinked in shock, looking at Philighost, who was staring up at them from where he stood, hands splayed across the generator he was using to keep himself up and Two Time was currently working on.

“…little ghost…did you just…”

The toddler’s wings flapped behind him as he giggled, going to clap his hands but nearly falling over onto the fake ballpit flooring below him before Two Time caught him, the task of fixing the generator now abandoned as Two Time registered what had just happened.

“Toto!” The little boy giggled, wings continuing to flap and tail wagging. 

“Little ghost…you called me…” they smiled. Holding up the child by shoulders. “Oh how we’ve been blessed! If only your father was here- I’m sure he’d be so proud!” They laughed. This round’s killer had been 1x1x1x1 which was…a hit or miss on whether they’d go after Philighost. The main dependency being ‘was Philighost being held’.

Which was the main reason why Two Time only held Philighost up for a minute or two before quickly setting him back down.

He was 14 months old now. A little over a year. It was weird to think the amount of time they’d even been here was years, much less that they’d had a child during that time. But here they were. Watching their son speak his first word. He hadn’t yet walked, but he had stood, and he seemed to be getting a hold of grabbing things with both his hands and tentacles, they’d even figured out he’d had an ability involving the latter.

That’d been fun…not really. It was actually terrifying. They’d nearly dropped him off the dirt tower in Yorick’s after Guest had charged at a quickly approaching John Doe and while they knew ‘fall damage’ wasn’t a thing here, John Doe was something down there that could damage him…but apparently, he could use his Tentacles to grip onto surfaces.

“This is cause for celebration once we get back to the cabin. I’m sure the spawn wouldn’t mind you having a little extra apple sauce after such a feat.” Two Time smiled down at him, going back to working on the generator. The round was approaching its end. Two Time had gotten a stab off on 1x1x1x1 before they realized Philighost was in the round they’d quickly liberated Builderman from the responsibility of taking care of him and gone to fix generators.

Despite everything life right now was…alright. There’d only been a few more rounds where Philighost and Azure were both there, and every time Azure would get this sad look in their eye. Knowing he’d only have him for a few hours.

The last time Azure hadn’t even approached them. He’d just taken one glance at Philighost, killed and…well. Philighost had survived the round but Two Time hadn’t.

After that, Philighost hadn’t been in the same round as his father since.

(Azure stared at whatever was hitting him, crying over the body of Two Time.

Despite the weird…blur that was its face, Azure could still recognize it as a toddler.

Why a toddler was here in the first place he had no clue. He ignored it though. He wasn’t killing a literal toddler.

Something itches at the back of his mind. He doesn’t know why.)

…The other killers were a bit more hit or miss on which would kill Philighost. Ranging from Jason avoiding them to John Doe not being coherent enough to care. Two Time would rather not think of that. It took hours to stop both themselves and Philighost from crying every time.

They wonder about the future sometimes. Wonder about what will happen once they return home, hopefully with both Philighost and Azure by their side. Perhaps their wings would remain, a reminder of the second life they’d earned, of the one they’d carved for themself, Azure and Philighost. Perhaps the others would be awed by Philighost’s own wings and tail. They smile at the thought.

This wasn’t the best place to raise a child, but they and the others managed to make it work. If Two Time was in a round without Philighost someone would watch over him. If Two Time wasn’t in a round when Philighost was someone would protect him. If Two Time needed some time to themself or to sleep even they had a plethora of other people to watch him. Food still had to be rationed but that had been going on long before Philighost came into their care. Things weren’t perfect but they weren’t horribly bad either. Just…alright as it could be.

They blink. And their back in the cabin. Philighost is at the very end of the table from them.

They suppose it’s time for his celebratory apple sauce. Right after prayer of course…and announcing the event to the others.