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I'm taking the RE AU off hiatus. Though, with art fight on the way, it may be slow still, and i really hope i don't get burned out again over this next month. God i hope not.

Take a teaser doodle that i am debating making a digital version of

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My art fight stuff is ready now! I'll also put this in my pinned post.

New characters for this year: Dusk, Black Moon, and Darkstrike!

And my art fight profile:

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Dusk also gets a fresh reference to go with him.

I also really wanna add Nova, but he's coming in a bit too close to what's not allowed and i don't wanna risk it. His damaged version might work, but i also wouldn't wanna do that to him for art fight.

Oh yea, i am adding Black Moon to my roster too.

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Haven't drawn Dusk in ages but damn did it feel good lol

Guess who's getting prepped for art fight

Yes he is part of my roster

I've had a burst of motivation and inspiration as of late

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Wasn't expecting this to pick up some traction again lol

By the way, i stil go back and read this sometimes because i love it so much. It's still such an adorable story

Okay, i couldn't not draw this. I loved it so much.

Based on a scene in "Little Birds" by @thedemonscrawler / @thedemonsurfer

I just love Eclipse in this little story

I'm not great at backgrounds but i tried. Would have added more detail but the layer count was kinda getting up there lol

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New chapter for Flickering Star in a Hopeless Sky!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64280602/chapters/170307133

I'm debating doing art pieces for the chapters. We'll see. I used to do this in the past for my old writings.

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Ngl, i worry if i have to change my Nova's name, or start using his full name (Supernova) since Novafrost is a character on the shows now, and him being called Nova, so i don't want to cause confusion when i talk about my Nova...

I don't watch SAMS anymore, but i have seen plenty of stuff on these characters already..

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Various Huggies i put into, probably the best traditional sketch i have, and will ever make of Huggy.

Originally this wasn't even meant to be Huggy. It was meant to be Python, but i liked it so much that i also made variations for Huggy and the Mini Huggy.

Original sketch:

And all the digitalized variations, including Python (yellow).

The first one is Huggy, second is Python, like i said, and the third one is Mini Huggy.

Huggy and Mini Huggy are different shades of blue mainly because Mini Huggy was sheltered by his box for so long that his fur didn't fade, unlike Huggy's which had dulled a little bit overtime. Sun exposure since his pedestal is right under the lobby dome which is like a skylight, and Huggy spent a lot of his time standing there in his usual pose because he had nothing to do. (But i also want to use different shades to distinguish them better.)

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I've decided on how i want my version of Doey to be, or at least who is who. This is more for later reference for me.

Matthew: Yellow

Kevin: Orange

Jack: Red

This is me going off who i think is which color based on the head positions in Monster Doey's mouth and how they react to things during the fight.

I feel like Matthew is yellow cuz in Doey's jumpscare, if you pay close attention, or slow it down, that head shakes itself like saying "No!" And Matthew was the one trying to get Kevin to calm down before he went nuts on us. (At least that's who i attached that voice line to)

The angry head is on the orange side, so that is self explanatory.

The bottom head, i feel is Jack because that one seems super devastated after what happened, and barely reactive in the boss fight, which is a reaction to grief, and based on the voice lines, the one i attached as Jack's is the one that sounds like he's crying and wants to go home.

This is simply for me to reference later.

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New chapter for Flickering Star in a Hopeless Sky

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64280602/chapters/168168067

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Happy Mermay, as a treat, have a mer Starstrike that i drew some time ago.

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More new Wuggy ocs. Or, technically not but i made bigger body versions of the colored Huggies, also imprisoned for various reasons.

Kinda a side AU to the AU that Flickering Star in a Hopeless Sky takes place in. (I don't have a name for it yet)

Basically in this side AU, Star gets transfered down to the prison after it was completed, not by her choice. For now i'm calling this au the "Shelf Keeper Star" AU. I may change the name later. When she realizes that the imprisoned toys are barely fed, she begins sneaking food down for them. Not much, as she is paying for it out of her own Playtime Co paychecks (which she did get a decent raise after transfer to compensate for how dangerous it is working down there). She also tries to offer comfort to the toys in distress when she can, so she became liked by a lot of the toys, and in true Star fashion, she befriended most of the Wuggies being kept there. (Bigger Body versions of Green, Yellow, and Red) Lemon Flower is also present, but she remains highly skeptical of Star, even though she feeds them all, including her.

I went with a snake theme for the Huggies' nicknames. They also have what would have been their official names.

TW/CW: mentions of various ways they kill people

Green Huggy "Cuddly"/ "Serpent": He's the smartest one out of the prison Huggies, and the leader. He is very coordinated, and even knows how to pick off a large group of guards one by one without getting sedated very quickly. He's very fast, agile, and has quick thinking. He was imprisoned for how dangerous he can be. Yellow and Red have special abilities that they spent time mastering, and could overpower Green, but due to how reactive, agile, and smart Green is, they can't, and won't anyways. Green always wins. Huggy is the only one who could take Green on in a fight, but it's pretty even for the both of them, so it can go either way.

His nickname is Serpent because he is also very deceptive. He will act like the most well behaved toy ever, only to turn around and pick off people when their guards are down.

Yellow Huggy "Snuggly"/ "Python": Similar to Lemon Flower, he is very aggressive, and he takes Huggy's whole "Squeeze you until you pop" thing almost literally. He will wrap his arms around his victims and constrict them to death. He doesn't do the bite like Huggy does. He just squeezes the life out of them. He is strong enough to crush a human ribcage.

His nickname is Python because he liles constricting his victims to death, just like pythons or other constrictor snakes do with their food.

Star befriends each of these guys, but it takes longer to befriend Red and Yellow. Green often had to keep them away from her at first. She also befriended a lot of the imprisoned toys here just because of her kindness towards them and the fact she keeps them fed.

Red Huggy "Fluffy"/ "Viper": He coats his teeth in poison, usually from the Baba Chops toys that have poison in them. There aren't a lot of them, so he does his best to ensure the poison is used only when needed, or he's sure he can secure a kill. He has built up a resistance to that poison over time, and he does often keep his mouth at least somewhat open so the poison won't rub off or get too diluted. Another nickname for him is "Brute" because after he bites, and the poison slows down his victims, he then beats down on them until they die.

His nicknames are Viper and Brute due to the nature of how he kills. Like venomous snakes, he saves the poison until he needs it, and would rather not waste it since it's difficult to come across. He can't produce it himself. (If he could, he would be a lot more dangerous than he already is) He is the only one of these Huggies with 2 nicknames. Rarely are their official names used to address them.

In this side au, she was also present during the Hour, but wasn't killed because the toys spared her since she helped them the whole time she was there. She also took a huge risk doing what she did for them, and they understood that. She still returned later too.

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Bit of an upcoming spoiler for what's coming up in FSiHS. I am so tired after finishing this. I would have done more but because i am so tired, i decided this would be my stopping point.

Also a first look at Star. I am so out of practice drawing humans ;v;

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Huggy and the little fella (from the fic)

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Rising Eclipse

Word count: 3,065

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‘We will be talking later.’ Eclipse states to his newly discovered other half.

 

They do not respond other than a small nudge of acknowledgement, so they don’t seem to be entirely against that idea. Eclipse is still focusing on trying to slow his breathing. Even if he shouldn’t be able to breathe, the intake helps cool his overactive systems. The exhaling helps dispel the heat gathered within him.

 

He focuses on that. He gradually comes down from his panic. His breathing slows, and his systems cool. The voice. It’s the same voice that told him it wasn’t safe to rest yet when he was first outside the pizzaplex. His thoughts start gathering and organizing themselves. Even then, they didn’t gather in a way he could easily explain this situation.

 

How can he so casually say that the star evolved into a person? Yet also resides within his chest at the same time? There is no easy way to put that. He’ll ask it later. He assumes it isn’t going anywhere.

 

There’s a nudge of confirmation. So, it’s reading his thoughts too, great. Amusement comes from it now. It isn’t hiding itself from him like it was before. He thought he was entirely alone, and yet it has been here this whole time. There is an apologetic nudge from it before it spoke to him again.

 

“Sorry, will explain later, I promise.”

 

Oh damn right it will...

 

Finally, he is back in the present enough. His breathing has slowed to normal, and his systems are no longer overheated and overworked. His vision has cleared, and so has his hearing. He can feel two pairs of eyes behind him. Right, Moon and Lunar. They both just witnessed him have an episode. They both seem reluctant to get too close right now. That’s fair to him. They don’t know how he’d take it.

 

Eclipse straightens himself, arms falling to his sides once they were no longer supporting him. He turns around to the both of them, and they’re both concerned. It’s still strange seeing that from them, especially Moon. Of course it’ll be strange for a while. He needs to adjust. He offers the two of them a small, reassuring smile. Their expressions change from concern to relief. A small amount of concern remains in both of their gazes, but relief overwhelmed it.

 

Lunar spoke first.

 

“Eclipse? Are you doing okay? What happened?” He asks.

 

Moon is asking the same thing, even if he is not being vocal about it. Lunar voiced what both of them wanted to ask, so no need to ask the same question twice.

 

“Yea. I’m doing better now. I just... came to realize some things. I’m not ready to discuss what those are yet.”

 

That seems to appease the both of them. They nod. Eclipse is glad they don’t question him further. They’re being careful. It makes perfect sense to him, however. Moon is already aware how much of a change this is for Eclipse. How much he has to adjust given everything that happened between them in the past. He assumes Lunar knows that as well given how careful Lunar was behaving around him after their first talk in months. Even if that talk.. Didn't go great.

 

They’re giving him time to adjust to everything. So they plan to keep him around? He’s staying regardless, but it also seems like they want him to stay, or they’re giving him the chance to stay rather than chase him out. They’re giving him the option. His mind is made up. He is staying. Even if he knows he has company now that’ll go with him, ultimately, he has wanted to try making up for what he’d done. To be worthy of this chance he is being given.

 

He knows not to take it for granted. He already did once, and that led to him being expelled and killed. He underestimated Sun back then. He didn’t even think the cheery, passive attendant could hold his ground, and put his foot down without Moon’s help. Yes, Moon gave Sun the spell, but it was ultimately up to Sun whether he’d use it or not, and he did. He’s not taking this chance for granted. This life is a privilege, and privileges can be revoked. He fully intends to make it worthwhile. This chance is his last.

 

He’s a new Eclipse. Reformed. Old Eclipse is dead, and he will make sure he stays that way. The path he’d chosen will be long and tedious, but he knows that in the end, it will all be worth it. The longest climbs often lead to the most beautiful views.

 

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The days wear on, and with each new day, Eclipse is coming more and more out of his shell again. His timid anxiety slowly warps into a more outgoing confidence. Not too much though. He does not want to get cocky. Old Eclipse would’ve. He will not. His attire is also that of his old attire. New ruffles and a new pair of striped pants as well.

 

He has yet to bring up the whole star situation with Moon and Lunar. While ever present, Eclipse has not tried to venture into his mindscape to meet it again yet. It keeps telling him that it isn’t quite ready for that. He understands and respects its wishes. Just like him, it is an individual, and every individual deserves their space, and their time. He will not disrespect that. It has begun to speak to Eclipse more often, but its sentences are often made up of short, more common words. Like it doesn’t fully know how to communicate yet.

 

He hasn’t brought it up partially because the star is a person now, but also because he doesn’t want Moon questioning it when it cannot properly answer. Its communication skills gradually improve the more it talks with Eclipse, but its sentences are still short, and words choppy. It hasn’t told him what happened to it. Likely because it can’t yet formulate the explanation properly. He’s trying to help it day by day, introducing new, but not too complicated words to its vocabulary. It has basic communication skills, but lacks a lot of said vocabulary. Perhaps it hadn’t been interacted with much by voice. Even so, he is patient with it. If he feels frustration bubbling up, he knows to back down for a while and cool off before he does something else he will regret.

 

He starts spending more time with Moon and Lunar. Moreso with Lunar than Moon, but that is partly because Moon is busy, or helping Sun with a video. According to Moon, Sun hides his anger towards Eclipse well on camera (unless he’s brought up), but outside of that, Sun is as resentful as ever. Eclipse has opted to stay out of the video stuff for a while. Except maybe an occasional day that he and Lunar can record together. Both have mixed feelings about that given the October mess. For Eclipse, it brings up memories he would much rather forget nowadays. For Lunar it’s the same thing.

 

One day... one day they are hoping they can do it again. Neither is ready for that yet though. At least this time, Eclipse doesn’t feel obligated to do it. He only did it in October because Lunar wanted to keep the channel stuff going. He felt dragged into that one, but this time, when he’s ready, he’ll do it willingly.

 

When Eclipse tries to spend some time with Moon, he often offers to help Moon with some of the stuff he’s working on. Sometimes he lets him, but he still doesn’t fully trust him. It hurts, but trust is hard to earn, and so easy to burn. Moon still has some of his old reservations. Even Eclipse still struggles from time to time with his temper. He hates how he’s had such a short fuse for so long. He’s gradually working on trying to fix that.

 

Sun still tends to avoid Eclipse whenever he can, using excuses like he’s busy or has other things to focus on, which... still boils down to being ‘busy’. Eclipse knows that Sun is only doing it to avoid him. He keeps trying to seek Sun out to talk with him, but every time he tries, Sun is just nowhere to be found. Either that, or, again, he is too ‘busy’ to talk. Eclipse honestly worries for Sun. Yes, he is avoiding him, but he also has become somewhat avoidant of Moon and Lunar too. Not as much, but he’s been talking to them less and less. He worries that Sun is isolating himself. He knows that he hates him, but to rope his brothers in on that too? It’s not right. He keeps trying to flag Sun down, but to no avail. He’s as quick as ever.

 

He has brought up his concerns about Sun to Moon who then tried to bring them up with Sun who then yells at Moon, much to Eclipse’s dismay. Sun was so loud that he could hear him from all the way across the daycare.

 

“As long as he’s here I refuse to be anywhere near him, and I refuse to talk with him or about him with any of you!” just before Sun storms off, leaving Moon there absolutely distraught.

 

So that’s why Sun was talking to Moon and Lunar less... It’s because they kept bringing him up, trying to get Sun to see that he’d changed, which Sun refuses to acknowledge. It hurt. It really hurt. He gets it, but it hurts so much. Not just for him, but he aches for Moon and Lunar too. Their other sunny brother is hurting them all because he doesn’t want to talk about him. Sun is ruining his own relationships with his long-time brothers.

 

His rays droop.

 

All because of him.

 

He didn’t know whether to go try comforting Moon or not. He could be angry at him again.

 

Moon’s face falls as his gaze trains on the blue padded floor. Eclipse can’t see his eyes from where he’s standing, but Moon’s body language clearly shows that he’s upset. He felt a slight nudge telling him to try at least. The only things really holding Eclipse back are his fears that Moon may’ve changed his mind about keeping him around, and that he might be angry again.

 

Eclipse takes a few hesitant steps towards Moon who then looks up seemingly after he caught sight of his movement. Eclipse pauses, his rays shrinking into his faceplate part-way. He’s worried and wants to offer some sort of comfort, even if that is more Lunar’s forte than his.

 

Moon’s expression is a mix of emotions. Sadness, anger, but it boils down to anguish if he had to describe a single emotion. Sun needs to be flagged down, but not right now. Moon looks conflicted as well as he studies Eclipse.

 

A hug had helped Eclipse when he was very upset on that first day back in the daycare, and technically he is also an extension of Moon so he wonders if one might help him too. Since he’s not great at this whole offering comfort thing, he can’t think of another option currently. It’s what helped him calm down. Maybe it will help Moon too.

 

He steps cautiously closer to Moon, watching his body language closely. Moon’s eyes follow him, but the rest of him remains as is. He is slightly hunched over with his arms hanging limp at his sides.

 

Eclipse came closer until he’s within arm's reach of Moon, who still hadn’t moved much other than moving his head to not lose track of him.

 

“I... know I’m not great at the whole comforting thing like Lunar is... but... um...” He couldn’t exactly find the words.

 

Instead, he shows it. He pulls Moon into a hug. A slight part of him cringes at the action, but it’s more like a residual feeling. Old Eclipse. That Eclipse is dead. He will stay dead. Moon didn’t even resist it, he just let Eclipse hug him.

 

After some time, Moon hugs Eclipse in return. He murmurs something to himself that the taller animatronic doesn’t catch. Something that sounded like he was reassuring himself. They stayed like that for a while. Then Moon finally speaks up, lightly teasing Eclipse.

 

“Heh.. Lunar’s rubbing off on you.” he teases, but not a mean tease.

 

“Oh shut up.” Eclipse lightly retorts, voice coming out in a teasing tone similar to Moon’s. Not a rude tease, just a light one to help lighten the mood a bit.

 

It works. Moon chuckles in response before he let go of Eclipse, who in turn lets go of him and takes a couple steps back.

 

Eclipse was smiling, but that smile fades. “I’m so sorry for this.. I’m tearing a rift in yours and Sun’s bond..”

 

“No, Eclipse.”

 

Moon’s suddenly sharp voice sends a shudder through Eclipse’s frame.

 

“You’re.. You’re not bad anymore. This is not your fault. It’s nobody’s but Sun’s. Stubborn as always. It’s not your fault he refuses to acknowledge the fact you’re trying to be better. That’s on him. He’s consciously choosing to be this way.”

 

Moon’s voice is full of such certainty that Eclipse stands there with his mouth slightly agape.

 

He fumbles with his response at the start.

 

“but-.. I-.. He-…" the words come out, but then the rest gets caught in his voicebox.

 

“Not your fault,” Moon asserts. “Not this one.”

 

“We c-can't let this keep up or Sun might isolate himself entirely.” Eclipse points out. He’s worried about his brighter variant. He understands why he’s hostile, but Moon and Lunar don’t deserve this coming from him.

 

He’s becoming like...

 

Like the old him...

 

He once resented Moon for abandoning him. He resented Sun for just being associated with Moon.

 

Sun’s doing the same thing now. Just because Eclipse is associated with Moon and Lunar, Sun is starting to resent them too. They really aren’t much different, are they...

 

Eclipse doesn’t want that to happen. If he could just sit Sun down long enough to actually talk, maybe he could talk some sense into him. Moon and Lunar don’t deserve this. Eclipse was once hellbent on holding onto his anger towards Sun and Moon. He doesn’t want Sun following that same path. Now wouldn’t be a good time to track him down though. Not with how angry he is right now. Even then, there is a good chance he may have little to no luck with him. He just knows he has to step in here. Before Sun burns the last bridges he has. It’s just the matter of tracking him down. He moves around so much.

 

Aside from all of this, Eclipse still continues to build his bonds with Moon and Lunar, trying to assure them that he’s going to talk to Sun. The yellow animatronic is rarely ever seen anymore except when he’s charging, and when he charges, he is usually in sleep mode anyways so it’s next to impossible to talk to him. He’s become more irritable as well. Eclipse hasn’t stopped trying, but Sun doesn’t make it easy either.

 

Days blend into weeks, and weeks blend into months. Sun is still hard to find, but Lunar has accepted Eclipse as a brother again. It took Moon a while longer to fully accept Eclipse as a brother. Through the moons, Eclipse has been improving his behavior. He has more patience, his temper isn’t quite as easy to trigger, and isn’t as explosive as it used to be. He still has not brought up his little friend yet.

 

Moon and Lunar are well aware now that Eclipse has the star. The star is what has been keeping Eclipse alive. It’s the reason he has not needed to charge. The whole time, it has been his power source. That is as far as Lunar and Moon are aware though, and because of that, they cannot take the star from him. They’re trusting him more though. He hasn’t tried to wipe out the universe, or used it at all, really.

 

They are not aware that the star has evolved past that. They are not aware that it has become its own person. The only one aware of this is Eclipse. At least, as of now. He plans to bring it up sometime later when he finds the words to try explaining that, and also when the star is ready for them to know that.

 

For now, it remains a well-guarded secret between the two.

 

While still unnamed, the star has improved greatly in its’ ability to communicate. It and Eclipse still have not chatted in person yet, but they are both waiting for a time when Eclipse can settle down for a couple hours or more straight and they can finally properly talk.

 

He’s taken on a lot of tasks in the daycare as of late to help Moon and Lunar which has left him with little free time to himself. Sun almost never helps anymore except with stuff outside the main daycare. Or anything that’s just away from Eclipse. Eclipse still hasn’t stopped trying to get to Sun and talk, but it was getting frustrating.

 

Blood Moon also has not made any more appearances, but Eclipse is sure they are not gone. However, they are not his main focus right now. His main focus is trying to mend what he did. Of course he cannot undo the damage (he can but won’t). It has already been done, but he’s trying to mend what he can. He does so by continuing to help around the daycare. He has also been around the children more often, usually filling in for Sun..

 

Despite it all, and Sun’s ongoing avoidance of him, Eclipse has continued to strive to be better. For himself, as well as Lunar and Moon. He can’t fill the gap that Sun’s left, but he tries his best to just be there for his brothers. He’s not given up the search, but he knows where his priorities lie now.

 

He’s a new Eclipse. He's not selfish, he’s not petty. He’s learning what to prioritize, and what to put off. He prioritizes his brothers over himself, everything else is secondary. While still slow, progress is being made.

 

He does not regret choosing this path.

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Dawn

Word count: 6,556

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Ever since Moon had finished repairing Eclipse, Lunar stayed by his side. Moon suggested it best that Lunar not immediately speak to him once he wakes up. Eclipse would need time to reorient himself when he wakes, and speaking to him too soon could scare him. He abides by that. Once his repairs were done, both Moon, and Lunar moved Eclipse into Moon’s room and place him on the bed. Moon has since left, but Lunar continues to sit on the edge of it, keeping watch over Eclipse until he refamiliarizes himself with his surroundings.

 

The closer Eclipse rose to consciousness, the more sound had begun to enter his processors again. He feels different. He is no longer in pain. His eyes open just a little bit, the darkness isn’t enough to overwhelm him this time. He’s laying on something soft too. Not the daycare padding this time.

 

Eclipse pushes himself up, but feels dizzy almost immediately. He sits up successfully, but he has to put his hand over his faceplate to stabilize himself. His eyes screw shut again as the swimming, and spinning sensation fades. The world around him gradually stabilizes to a halt, and he finally feels okay enough to open his eyes fully. His vision takes a second to clear, but it’s also fully restored. He can see again. He looks up at the walls. He’s in Moon’s room.

 

His recollection of events is somewhat blurred, but he still knows that he did die. They start to clear up. He finds that he doesn’t want to linger on those events right now. He blinks his eyes rapidly a few times to help them adjust to the room lighting. Why is he here? He was in the daycare before.

 

“Eclipse?”

 

A familiar voice raises from behind him, quiet, nervous. He jerks around to face the voice’s owner, instinctively flinching like he would’ve when he was still hurt, but this time, there is no pain. He looked towards Lunar, almost entering a state of panic. They found him.

 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay Eclipse, we’re not going to do anything to you. Moon fixed you.” Lunar kept his voice calm, but his body language expresses that he’s worried, and slightly panicking as well.

 

‘What?’

 

Moon had fixed him? Why? Eclipse tries to speak, but his voice fails him a few times. His lips had morphed into the word he wants to say, but it took a lot of effort to get the sound out.

 

“W-Why?” He stammers, voice barely sounding like a squeak when he finally got the word free of his voicebox.

 

“I asked him to...” Lunar fidgets slightly. “It... took some convincing, but we know what you did for us...”

 

Eclipse had saved them. He had gone there to attack Blood Moon when he realized they were in danger. For him, the fate of the bloodied lunar animatronic is unknown, but he’s hoping they’re dead. He still feels like he shouldn’t deserve this. He had hurt them too much, why did they fix him? He tried to kill Lunar, he threatened to kill Sun, and so many other things too.

 

‘No one, and I mean no one cares about you!’  Lunar’s words return to him yet again.

 

“But.. I thought... n-no one cared... You said so yourself.. Remember...?” Eclipse stammers once more. Why is this so hard for him? He talked to himself just fine before now, but now that Lunar’s here, he’s having a lot of trouble finding his voice. Is he nervous? Is it something else, or a combination?

 

Lunar flinches in response. “I... honestly forgot I said that to you...” Then he quickly adds: “but it’s different now. You’ve gotten better from what we’ve seen.”

 

Eclipse could suddenly feel some of that old frustration he used to have with Lunar before, and from Lunar shrinking into himself a bit more, it seems to be showing on his face too.

 

“You forgot that you said no one cared. I sure find that hard to believe.” Eclipse scoffs suddenly, voice coming clearer this time. “Admit it Lunar, you didn’t care at all when I first died. You wanted me gone just like the other two. Or did you also forget how you devised your own plan to get rid of me?”

 

“That’s not-” Lunar tries to speak but Eclipse cuts him off before he can explain.

 

“It is and you know it!” His anger spikes. “Just go!” While his voice still sounds angry, there is hurt in it too. He was hurt by Lunar’s past actions, and words. “Go be with your better brothers!” He waves Lunar off, looking away again.

 

Lunar doesn’t respond this time. He crawls out through the tunnel, leaving Eclipse all alone again. His anger diminishes, replaced again by a feeling of guilt. His rays droop, and he blinks tears from his eyes. Again, not doing himself any favors. His hands come up and he smacks his faceplate against them.

 

“God, I’m such a fool... Why am I like this...”

 

His fingers dig into the top of his faceplate, but not enough to crack it. His hands fall away, and he just stares at his lap. He now realizes his jacket is gone. He reaches up again to feel around the base of his neck. Nothing there. No ruffles. He’s just shirtless. He folds his arms across his chest as if he were cold, but he isn’t.

 

Lunar emerges back into the main room, feeling rather upset. He didn’t expect that sort of greeting from Eclipse when he woke up. In hindsight, he probably should’ve. Eclipse was hurt by him in the past too. He did forget that he told Eclipse no one cared about him, but back then, he was angry. He didn’t realize those words stuck with him like that. He didn’t choose his words wisely either when trying to de-escalate the situation. It had only made Eclipse madder. He made his pain known though, very evidently.

 

Lunar needs to give himself some time to choose his words more wisely. The pain in Eclipse’s form as he recalled the past made him realize he needs to approach this more carefully. He didn’t intend to hurt Eclipse again, but he had, and he wants to make sure he doesn’t do it again. He decides it best to not tell Moon about this, as it could just worsen the situation. Eclipse is still on thin ice with Moon, even if he is more accepting of him than Sun is. If he tells Moon how Eclipse snapped at him like that, well.. He already fought to get him repaired. He doesn’t want Moon changing his mind.

 

Eclipse knows he reacted to Lunar badly, but he almost couldn’t help himself. Seems he still has some old habits to break, even if he hasn’t used those in all the months he’s been here since he woke up. He knows he owes Lunar an apology, but just the idea of doing that didn’t sit well with him. His ego, he realizes is still the reason. He has to work on that.

 

He contemplates for a while longer. On one hand he was being brutally honest with his words. Lunar did hurt him when he said that. So much so that those words have stuck with him ever since he woke back up. Lunar’s actions did as well. He was the only one who got the closest to stopping him before Moon took over, and finished what Lunar started. Lunar trying to excuse himself by saying that just because Eclipse is changing, now he cares. That hurt almost more than those original words, even if it was justified. Eclipse didn’t treat Lunar well in the past so naturally, Lunar would have stopped caring about him. It happened as it should have.

 

On the other hand... Eclipse has been trying to better himself during his isolation. Even if he was hurt by Lunar’s words, that did not excuse, nor justify him yelling at him like that, and not listening to what he was trying to say. He doesn’t know how long he’s been dead. He doesn’t know what the others did during that time in regards to him. All he knows now is that he is repaired. Moon repaired him. Lunar somehow convinced him to do it.

 

“Why would you have done that..” Eclipse murmurs to himself, even to him, his voice comes out in pain. He doesn’t understand. Why would they have chosen to fix him? After everything? He didn’t deserve another chance.

 

Yet, they’ve given him one, and he’s already trying to ruin it. His grip on his arms tightens, and a tear falls into his lap, turning the navy-colored denim a slightly darker color. He can still salvage this, he hopes.. His ego be damned, he needs to apologize. The guilt will eat him alive otherwise.

 

Eclipse slides off of Moon’s bed, almost instinctively keeping weight off his left leg, but there is no pain. He evenly distributes his weight, finally getting a better look at his repairs. The casing that had been hurting him for the past several months has been replaced. His arm casing was as well, which he hadn’t noticed at first. His systems are also fully functional again. No warnings showing anywhere. Moon really had fixed him. How did Lunar manage to get him to do that? He can ask later; he has another priority to attend to. Apologizing.

 

It still doesn’t sit well with him. He shakes his head a couple times and pushes the thought away. He ducks through the tunnel, standing at his full height once he is out. A quick scan of the room reveals Lunar having gone elsewhere by now.

 

Eclipse goes over to the ladder, and climbs to the balcony. Lunar’s down in the daycare, leaning against the huge Freddy plush. He’s upset. Understandably so.. He yelled at him...

 

Eclipse jumped down into the ballpit, the balls scattering as he landed. He wades over to the bridge and climbs out. Lunar had been looking up by the time he is on the blue padded floor again. His nerves start to act up again.

 

Lunar had moved down into the main daycare. He was leaning against the large Freddy plush that was just across from the bridge leading into the ballpit. His legs are crossed, and he is staring at the floor. His thoughts keep swimming, trying to find what words he could say to Eclipse. Sun and Moon are gone right now, off doing one of their videos in another dimension as per usual. Lunar didn’t go this time. He stayed here so he could watch over Eclipse.

 

The sound of balls scattering pull Lunar out of his thoughts, and he looks up in time to see Eclipse climbing out. The other had stopped, watching Lunar nervously through orange and white irises. Lunar could finally get a better look at him in the light. His left eye, which had been his functional eye before glows orange, but his right eye is black with a white iris. In the past, yes, his eyes were like that, but both irises were red. Lunar wonders if that may’ve had something to do with the fact that Eclipse was blind for months in that eye. Maybe that turned that iris white? He can only speculate. His whole head endo was replaced, but that should not have changed his eye colors.

 

From what he can see, Eclipse is trying to say something, but he seems to be having trouble saying it. He remembers that he does owe Eclipse an apology.

 

“Eclipse, I’m sorry. I.. should have chosen my words better there. I didn’t mean to hurt you...” Lunar speaks up, even if his voice is somewhat quiet.

 

Eclipse’s rays droop. Lunar shouldn’t be the one apologizing to him. Eclipse steps forward a couple steps before lowering himself to Lunar’s level and settling just across from him. He finally finds his voice. It comes out soft.

 

“Lunar, please don’t apologize.. I’m the one who needs to..” he starts, voice cracking some as he speaks. “I should not have yelled at you like that, and I am very sorry.. Yes, I was hurt by your words, but that does not justify my reaction. I hurt you far more than you hurt me.. And to be frank, I deserved it,”

 

Lunar stares at Eclipse in utter disbelief. Is this really the same animatronic that was expelled from Sun all those months ago? Eclipse really sounded like a completely different person now. It both alarmed, and reassured him in all honesty, and Eclipse still wasn’t done speaking.

 

“In all honesty I think I deserved much worse. I’m not.. worthy of this... I don’t feel like I am.. After everything I’ve done or tried to do to the three of you... I really expected to be left dead..”

 

Eclipse’s gaze is downcast by this point, his rays drooping limply. Lunar could see the tears building in Eclipse’s eyes, even though they have not yet fallen.

 

Lunar had seen Eclipse cry before on the logs Moon showed him, but seeing him about to break down right in front of him tugs on his metaphorical heartstrings far more. Eclipse’s voice had already become heavier. He’s.. already almost to that point.

 

Lunar uncrosses his legs, and moves closer to Eclipse before he pulls the troubled animatronic into an embrace, much to Eclipse’s surprise. Eclipse’s rays clicking gave it away. Eclipse didn’t hug him back for a few long seconds.

 

Eclipse finally hugs Lunar back, albeit a bit tighter than he intended. Then he could not hold back his tears anymore. Much like back in the office, but this time, he isn’t alone. Just a few months ago, this seemed like an unreachable dream. Unreasonable, even. He’d caused them a lot of pain and grief. Never did he think this was remotely possible. Yet here he is.

 

Between sobs, Eclipse began apologizing profusely to Lunar for everything he’d done, naming off events, and actions rather specifically as he does so, the words pouring out so fast that Eclipse’s voice gets scrambled, and glitched, his body is wracked by sobs while Lunar holds him steady. Lunar gently rubs Eclipse’s back with one hand, using the other to keep Eclipse from curling in on himself while the solar animatronic’s sobs swiftly exhaust him. All the while, Eclipse’s grip on his former brother does not loosen, even as he grows tired.

 

“1-I’m s-S0rRy..." Eclipse says one final time after he had exhausted himself, his sobs barely coming out as sniffles by this point. His voice is still glitching slightly.

 

All the while, Lunar doesn’t let go of Eclipse. Both brothers still continue to hold eachother, one comforting the other. Eclipse’s rays are partially retracted so they don’t poke Lunar too much.

 

Sun and Moon have not returned yet, but they’ll be back very soon if they aren’t already on their way back. Regardless, neither Lunar or Eclipse want to move yet. Eclipse hasn’t let go of Lunar, and Lunar doesn’t want to let Eclipse go until Eclipse lets him go. He probably really needs this right now, which Lunar understands, and is fine with.

 

Finally, after a few more minutes, Eclipse’s arms fall. Lunar carefully repositions him so he can see Eclipse’s face. It’s wet under his eyes, of course, streaks going all the way down passed the rim. His rays still hang limply, and the glow of his eyes seems a bit faint.

 

Lunar swipes his thumbs across the tear streaks to clear them off, which Eclipse’s response to that was pulling himself away a bit, and a half hearted swipe at Lunar’s hand. It does get a smile out of him though, which Lunar brightens some when he sees. So he can handle crying on someone, but not being babied. That’s some classic Eclipse there. His stubbornness is still there. His rays also lifted up some, but not quite to their original positions. Still a tad droopy.

 

There is a noise from the ballpit, balls shifting. That means Sun and Moon are finally back. Eclipse’s mood almost immediately plummets again. Not to a point of crying again or anything like that, but he’s nervous, and restless again.

 

Both Lunar and Eclipse turn to face the bridge as Sun and Moon let themselves down on the blue mat. Eclipse’s eyes flick up to Moon’s face first. The night-time animatronic’s expression isn’t entirely unfriendly, it was almost sympathetic, mixed with a bit of surprise, and skepticism.

 

Then his eyes flick over to Sun’s face, and he nearly recoils. His rays snap back in most of the way before sliding back out part of the way. Sun’s expression is hostile. The day-time animatronic eyes him coldly through golden irises. He is not happy to see him. Granted, Eclipse isn’t the least bit surprised by that, but seeing Sun like that of all people? It scares him. It’s probably because Sun is like one of those people one wouldn’t expect that from. His personality is often cheerful, friendly, and outgoing. That’s probably why it’s scaring him.

 

He still knows he deserves it, but he feels small under Sun’s harsh gaze. Ironic given that Eclipse is the tallest one out of them all. Eclipse’s gaze becomes downcast, and his rays shrink in a bit more. He could still feel Sun’s gaze bearing down on him.

 

He heard Sun say something before the shuffling of bells is heard moving away. Eclipse catches a glimpse of Sun’s yellow and red striped pants. He hears Moon sigh as well.

 

“Sun still doesn’t agree with us doing this.” Moon explains, voice sounding somewhat subdued, like he’s tired.

 

Eclipse wanted to speak, but he had lost his voice again. Lunar is one thing, but trying to talk to Moon is a whole other thing.

 

‘Not that I really blame him...’ Eclipse thought solemnly, his eyes fixed on the floor.

 

“Are you doing alright, Eclipse?”

 

The question coming from Moon’s voicebox startles the solar animatronic. He looks up in stunned silence at Moon, who doesn’t look too phased by his reaction. Like he expected it.

 

“How are you feeling now since you’ve woken up?”

 

He’s at a complete loss for words now. He had trouble finding his voice before, but now it felt like it flat out left him entirely. Moon waits patiently for him to answer, his red eyes almost unreadable, but not hostile, or impatient. A tad skeptical still, but nowhere near what Sun is being like.

 

He tries, and fails a couple times more to find his voice, but it keeps failing him. Finally, he opted for something close to sign language just so Moon wouldn’t be kept waiting. He isn’t sure how long it would be before he gets angry at him for not responding.

 

He uncrosses one arm, not having realized at all that he had crossed his arms to begin with, and raises his hand before tilting it slightly side to side before his arm returns to its crossed position, gripping his arm casing a bit tightly. Only now does he realize he is clutching both arms similarly and forces himself to loosen his grip slightly.

 

His head lowers, and his rays slide in even more till it’s almost just the tips of his primary rays showing. His secondary rays barely have their tips visible. He feels a hand placed gently on his shoulder, and turns to see Lunar trying to offer some comfort. He gives Lunar a small thankful smile for a brief moment before he hesitantly turns towards Moon again.

 

Moon’s expression is gentler, with some understanding visible in his expression. The skepticism Eclipse saw mere moments before having disappeared completely now. It throws Eclipse for a loop. All of this is throwing him for a loop. As the weight of the situation starts to set in, he realizes now that they truly are giving him this chance. Moon has seemingly put at least most of his former hatred for him aside, and is reasonably cautious still. Lunar is treating him like a brother again even after everything that happened between them during October.

 

Sun still has a ways to go. The brighter solar animatronic is still very distrusting of him, and still openly hostile. Not that he blames him. He treated Sun the worst over the last several months before his first death, rejecting each approach Sun tried to take to become his friend. All just to spite Moon.

 

He did what he did to hurt Moon for leaving him behind in Sun when they separated. Sun didn’t do anything bad to him, but he ended up in the crossfire, and Eclipse even used him as a pawn just to scare Moon further. A meat shield as well. So, Sun has every single right to hate him. Moon does too. Even Lunar does.

 

He doesn’t deserve this. He knows he doesn’t, but they’re still giving it to him. He finds himself at a crossroads. Much like the night he woke up the first time, when he had the option to either lay down and die, or get himself fixed up. Getting himself fixed was the harder choice.

 

This felt very much like that, but his choices now are to either isolate himself again, or try to get along with at least 2 of the animatronics who once despised him. Isolating himself again would be the easier option, but that isn’t what he wants. Just like he didn’t want to die and take the easy way out. He’s being given another chance. One he doesn’t deserve, but is being given nonetheless, just like how he came back to life to begin with. Another chance. Also one he probably didn’t deserve, but had gotten anyways.

 

Another chance...

 

Another chance to make things right.

 

The Eclipse from 9 months ago would’ve reset everything.

The Eclipse from 9 months ago would have molded his own world to be his version of ‘right’.

The Eclipse from 9 months ago would have been an absolute tyrant.

 

However, that Eclipse is gone now. His vision of right was not right. He isn’t the same Eclipse he was 9 months ago. He’s changed, and now he realizes he’s changed for the better, and that is probably the best choice he’s ever made.

 

He’s hoping he can help Moon, Lunar, and hopefully Sun see that. He has this new chance. A chance to start anew.

 

A part of him is truly dead, and he will make sure that part of him stays dead. He’s a new Eclipse. Yes, he’s still the original, but also a new version.

 

Does he expect them to forgive him? No, he doesn’t. Or if they do, they do it at their own pace.

 

This is a new experience for him. It all is, and he’s gradually coming to terms with it. It’ll take a lot of getting used to.

 

He won’t waste this chance. If anything, this chance is probably his absolute last.

 

For months all he wanted was company, but never would have dared go to the daycare with them present before. He knows they wouldn’t have wanted to see him then. He’s on thin ice now as is, even with Lunar and Moon being more friendly towards him, it seems.

 

Pulling himself free of his thoughts, Lunar’s hand had not left his shoulder. Moon is crouching beside him now too. His expression is slightly teasing, but not mocking.

 

“Cat got your tongue?” Moon teases lightly, but not in a rude way.

 

Eclipse’s rays bristle slightly on instinct, but Moon continues, the tease having left his voice.

 

“Just messing with you. I know this has got to be weird for you, and hard to swallow. Though, when you feel ready, come talk to me. I have a few things I want to talk with you about.” Moon finishes, and stands back up.

 

Eclipse’s eyes follow him as Moon turns away to walk out toward the daycare doors. He feels a tad uneasy, anxious at what ever Moon wishes to talk to him about. Then again, it’s a step. Communication is a step in the right direction. No more acting before talking.

 

Some time passes. Eclipse had stayed with Lunar because he felt most at ease around him. Mentally, he is trying to prepare himself to have that talk with Moon. He has an almost overwhelming urge to hide away, but that will not help him here. He needs to talk. Communication is necessary. It helps to reach understandings. He still dreads what this talk could be about. His past actions? He knows already that he made very bad decisions back then, and acted recklessly a few times as well.

 

Eclipse is anxious, his fingers on one hand making grabby motions at his other arm where his jacket sleeve would have been, longing for something to just pull on. He misses his jacket. Even the ribbons that adorned his wrists when he was still sharing Sun’s body with him, he just.. Wants something to pull on, and get this nervous energy out of his systems.

 

His rays tilt side to side, clicking each time they stopped before tilting the other way, and repeating. The more time passes, the more restless Eclipse gets. Lunar has begun to take notice. Eclipse had tried to hide his fidgeting before, but it was getting harder, and now he couldn’t even hide it.

 

Lunar drops what he was doing, and comes over to Eclipse, who nearly startles at his approach.

 

“Is having to talk with Moon getting to you this much?” Lunar asks, voice gentle, and expression worried.

 

Eclipse’s rays return to their proper positions, but also retract part of the way. He gives Lunar a small nod.

 

Lunar tilts his head slightly. Eclipse certainly has changed. Or.. Perhaps he trusts him enough. He made himself unusually vulnerable to him earlier. Old Eclipse would have lied right through his teeth, insisting that he wasn’t nervous. Now he seems to be seeking some sort of support, even if he isn’t vocal about it. His expression is enough. This isolation he put himself through has also heavily affected him. Lunar feels a pang of sympathy. Eclipse hasn’t socialized in months, period. He does know what Moon wishes to discuss with him, so maybe Moon won’t turn Lunar away if he comes with Eclipse.

 

Lunar’s eyes venture to Eclipse’s hands for a second. He’s fidgeting still, fingertips lightly scraping against his wrist. It does take him a moment to realize why. When Sun is nervous, he usually starts to pull at the tassels hanging from his ribbons. Eclipse is displaying that same behavior. He just doesn’t have a ribbon to pull on.

 

He really is like a fusion of Sun and Moon. He can be serious like Moon can, but he also displays some of Sun’s behavior. None of them had seen Eclipse do it before, so naturally they would not assume he could be like this. This is a whole new side of him.

 

He gets a little idea. Lunar pulls his hat off his head, not minding being bald as much as Moon does. He hands it to Eclipse who stares in confusion at it.

 

“It’s okay, Eclipse. You can take it. I have spares if I need one. Why don’t we both go talk to him, if it’ll help?”

 

Eclipse hesitates for a moment before he takes the hat, and nods. He relaxes some. Subconsciously, he wraps part of the hat around one hand, and uses the other to pull at the tapering end. Not the crescent that dangles from it, but still the fabric. It helps him release some of that nervous energy.

 

Lunar gives Eclipse a gentle, reassuring smile. He’s not at all bothered by not having his hat.

 

Lunar starts coaxing Eclipse to go towards Moon’s room once he had seemed like he calmed down enough, but it still took a little while. The closer they got to the teleporter, the more Eclipse’s nerves start acting up again. Despite that, Lunar is patient with him, assuring him that it will be alright.

 

Eclipse is hesitant at the teleporter. Lunar waits. He inhales deeply for a moment, clutching Lunar’s hat tightly for a moment more before he untangles his hand from it, and teleports up to the balcony. He’s disoriented for a second, not having used it in a while. When Eclipse staggers some to the side, Lunar appears next to him and quickly grabs Eclipse to steady him.

 

“Thanks..” Eclipse murmurs, then looks up at his brother. Lunar’s expression is panicked for a moment, but then relaxes when he sees that Eclipse is okay.

 

Lunar lets out a relieved huff. “Are you ready?” he asks, voice gentle.

 

Well.. They got this far. Eclipse reluctantly nods. Lunar nods in response, then makes his way towards the ladder. Instead of just dropping down, Lunar climbs down, then backs up to wait for Eclipse. He soon follows, climbing down as well instead of dropping down.

 

When he turns to Lunar, he tries to give him the hat back, but Lunar doesn’t take it right away.

 

“If you need to hold onto it to keep yourself stable, you can keep holding it.” Lunar smiles.

 

Eclipse’s eyes widen slightly, but if he’s going to be honest with himself, he still needs it right now. He nods to Lunar gratefully, and pulls the hat back close to his chest.

 

“Just wait here for a second.” Lunar says before turning to go to the tunnel entrance, and slipping through.

 

Eclipse can hear them both speaking, but the wall muffles their voices so he can’t make out what they’re saying, though he assumes Lunar is just telling Moon that he’s ready to talk. He still feels stressed so he starts tugging at the end of Lunar’s hat again, taking care at least to not tear off the crescent hanging from the end.

 

Lunar pokes his head back out, and speaks, nearly startling Eclipse.

 

“Okay, you can come now..” Lunar says gently.

 

A shiver goes through Eclipse’s whole form. He clutches Lunar’s hat a bit tighter.

 

“Don’t worry Eclipse, Moon said I can stay so I won’t be going anywhere. It’ll be okay. I promise Moon isn’t angry or anything like that. He just wants to ask a few things is all.” Lunar tries to reassure Eclipse, and it does somewhat work.

 

Some of the tension leaves Eclipse’s body as he takes slow steps forward, feet almost feeling like lead. He keeps repeating what Lunar said in his head.

 

���I promise Moon isn’t angry,’ Eclipse keeps repeating silently, which allows him to gradually move forward.

 

Lunar finally retreats back into Moon’s room as Eclipse nears the tunnel, and ducks to crawl through. Before he exits though, he surveys the room. Moon’s on the bed, Lunar is standing not far off, both have their eyes fixed on him. Neither is hostile. Right, he needs to remember, they’re giving him a chance. They’re not angry at him.

 

He still finds that hard to swallow. Them not being angry at him. He’s so used to them glaring at him. So used to them being angry at the mere sight of him. Even if so many months have passed. So many months with no contact with any of them. It was all he knew beforehand.

 

Their gazes still show no hostility. Eclipse finally pulls himself through, and stands at his full height. He glances towards Moon who pats the bed next to him, silently telling Eclipse to sit. So he does. Lunar sits down beside him too.

 

Moon brings his hands up to his mouth, and lets out a sigh.

 

“I had several hours to prepare for this discussion, and I still can’t find the right words...” He grumbles.

 

Eclipse finds himself already tightly gripping Lunar’s hat.

 

“Okay...” Moon starts. “This is mainly about something we found while we were repairing you,”

 

Eclipse listens, his grip loosening its near death hold on the hat. So it isn’t as bad as he feared.

 

“Your.. ‘battery’,”

 

Eclipse could practically hear the air quotes in Moon’s voice which leads him to confusion.

 

“Surely you know it’s not normal, right?” he asks.

 

His rays fold back slightly. Yes, he remembers it’s in a strange sphere now, but at the time he discovered that himself, he didn’t think too much of it. He hesitantly nods in response.

 

“Why do you think that is?” Moon asks. He keeps his voice calm.

 

It does help Eclipse find his voice. Somewhat. “I just... thought it was some side effect of the spell. A lot of strange things happened after the fact so I just made that assumption..”

 

“And you never questioned it further?”

 

“No? I can’t find any other way to explain it..” Eclipse’s confusion just grows. He doesn’t know what Moon is trying to get at here.

 

“Eclipse, you might have the star.” Moon finally gets right to the point.

 

“What-?” Eclipse says in a quiet, sharp voice. Utter disbelief, and genuine confusion.

 

“Moon, that is ridiculous. I think I would know if I had it. I have no idea what you had even done with it.” He speaks truthfully.

 

Of course Eclipse knew the sphere was strange, but he doesn’t dare to mess with it. Not after he grazed it one too many times while he repaired himself before. Even a minor sting hurt pretty bad. He never guessed it could be the star though. He doesn’t want to consider that possibility. Moon had the star last. Why would any of them go out of their way to give it to him then just leave him? Especially these three? He knows they would not give it to him willingly. Especially considering how soon it was after his original death when he woke back up. Only two weeks. He was dead for two weeks before he woke up in that forest.

 

Though, judging by Moon’s confusion, he is in the same boat Eclipse is. It just makes no sense. Why would he have it, and how would he have gotten it? He never sought it out. They wouldn’t have given it to him, so it makes no sense.

 

Moon isn’t done though.

 

“That wasn’t the only strange thing we took note of,”

 

Eclipse listens, but he still looks confused. What else could they have found?

 

“We looked through a lot of the security logs, following what you had done over the months. Mostly just to pass time while we waited for your parts to arrive,”

 

Eclipse’s rays click as he listens, he completely forgot about the other cameras. Though it seems they didn’t check them until after everything.

 

“One thing I noted was the fact that you never needed to charge. You got tired, yea, but after some regular rest, you had your energy back. You never questioned that either?”

 

“No...” Eclipse admits. In hindsight, he probably should’ve. His rays retract part-way from embarrassment.

 

“The last thing I noticed was from your fight with Blood Moon, who’s not dead, by the way. Some of their nanomachines survived, and escaped,”

 

Eclipse couldn’t help the involuntary groan that leaves his voicebox. His face falls into his hands, and he shakes his head. Then again, he only had a small window of time to aim, and fire... all of that to die again, and they escape alive still.

 

“They’re not that big of a threat anymore. I don’t think they’ll be coming back anytime soon either. Back to my point though,” Moon quickly switches back to the original topic of discussion.

 

“That blow to your side should have killed you, Eclipse. Yet you still got back up. The damage to those systems should have been fatal upon impact. It wasn’t. You still had enough in you to avoid one more blow before you slipped and fell,”

 

He remembers. That sudden surge of energy. Back then, he only chalked it up to adrenaline of some sort. Like a second wind. Then again, he was still decently strong for it to have been just a second wind. His reaction time was still good.. He was still sharp...

 

“And then when you shot them with the barrel, it charged much faster than it should’ve. The one you grabbed typically takes a few seconds to fully charge up. It charged within a second.”

 

Eclipse’s eyes sprung wide, irises shrinking to pinpricks. His perception of the events shattered. There is no alternative way to explain that. The barrels weren’t modified from what he knew, and he doesn’t think Sun or Moon would have modified weapons he made. The way Moon put it, he didn’t modify them. Sun would not have been able to, neither could Lunar.

 

He recalls more of the fight. Namely the very end of it. When he slipped and fell into the barrels. In the heat of the moment, he didn’t think much of it, but then he realizes.. When he grabbed for the barrel, it wasn’t him who did it. He just grabbed it without any input from himself. It was the input of someone else..

 

The figure..

 

The one he saw just before he woke up. Has he been sharing his body with someone else this whole time? He didn’t catch many of their details, but they were there.

 

The room suddenly feels smaller. He can hear Moon and Lunar talking, voices concerned, but sounding muffled. He can’t understand them. He feels like he is suffocating. Motion around him blurs. He needs out of the room.

 

“Eclipse? Eclipse?!” Moon panics as Eclipse had suddenly gone entirely still, gaze wide, and distant.

 

“Eclipse, are you okay?” Lunar pitches in, voice worried just as Moon is. Neither seem to be getting through to him.

 

Eclipse keeps staring wide-eyed at the floor in front of him, irises small. He suddenly shot off the bed, stumbling and scrambling for the tunnel. Lunar’s hat was abandoned, so Lunar quickly grabs it as Eclipse pushes his way out into the more spacious, brightly lit room.

 

He trips, barely catching himself before halting in the center of the room, arms on his knees, supporting his upper body. He’s hyperventilating, systems kicked into overclock by his sudden panic.

 

With more space around him, the haze he found himself in starts to gradually clear up. He hears Moon and Lunar come up behind him before they pause.

 

As his thoughts gradually start to steady themselves, he begins to piece things together. Things he ignored and kept dismissing as just ‘side effects of the spell’.

 

The figure... their colors.. From what he remembers, silver, gold, blue. Colors that were associated with the star... but it was a figure.. A person..

 

He’s in no state to enter his mind right now. He also thinks it will cause Moon and Lunar more worry if he suddenly shut down right now just to pay this mystery figure a visit. His voice is gone all over again, strangled by Eclipse’s rapid inhaling and exhaling.

 

‘How is that even possible... how.. How did it come to me? If that person is the star, how did it even.. Did it seek me out?’

 

“You got it.”

 

Eclipse goes rigid. He's heard that voice before.

[brightsstar]

Midnight (Part 2)

Total word count: 11,173

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Lunar comes back shortly after with a clean towel as requested.

 

“Put it on the kiddie table there for now.” Moon directs Lunar to the small kiddie table nearby, and he puts the towel on it, laying flat.

 

Moon shuffles over to put the motherboard on the towel, then carefully wraps the unoccupied corners around it to protect it from dust floating about.

 

With his hands freed, he grabs the spare head endo he ordered. He checks to make sure all the needed wires for the motherboard are in it. It doesn’t take long. Everything is in place so he uncovers the motherboard again, and carefully takes it, placing it in the new head, and connecting wires as needed. It’s still a very delicate process, but he succeeds. He replaces the protective metal cover, screwing it back in place, then going to connect the new head to Eclipse’s body. He connects the wires first, and screws the head and neck together again.

 

He turns Eclipse’s head back properly, and gets the faceplate again. Only now does he notice the familiar grin that was once plastered on his, and Sun’s faces. If he had been using this, how was his face expressive before? It furthers his suspicions. He reattaches the faceplate cover, and Eclipse’s expression changes again, back to the resting expression he had before.

 

Oh yea, that seems to confirm it.

 

“How did he...” Lunar spoke up next to him, baffled by the sight.

 

“I think he might have the star,” Moon responds.

 

“How?!” Lunar exclaims.

 

“I could be wrong, Lunar, and it could be some side effects of the spell, but from what I know, that spell shouldn’t have caused this. Then again, Sun messed it up, so I don’t know exactly what he did, but the star could probably explain a few things, if he does have it. How did he get it though if he was dead? That just doesn’t add up to me.”

 

Lunar nods his head in agreement. He knew Moon threw the star out into the middle of space, he watched him do it. If Eclipse does have it, it makes no sense how he could’ve gotten it, even to him. Eclipse was dead. Moon did show him some of the security logs, even the ones from the night Eclipse first showed up again. He was in no condition to have gotten the star, and from Moon’s log tracking, Eclipse never left either. He did go outside for a short time after he fixed himself, but he came back, and then never left again. He had no tech he could’ve used either, it was just him. This whole situation is baffling the both of them.

 

Moon shook his head. He still has repairs to do. He gets up to go grab a bunch of spare sun rays. As funny as it would be to see Eclipse stay bald, they need the rays to function for what ever reason. Even Moon has his own set of rays, and so does Lunar. Their rays just stay retracted most of the time. Moon and Lunar have never needed to extend them, but they’re there, and they can if they want to.

 

Each of them donned 13 sun rays. 7 primary rays, and 6 secondary rays. Eclipse is just the only one who has his secondary rays extended. Sun keeps his secondary rays retracted unless he gets really angry. They tend to poke out then, and that’s when it’s time to back off, and let Sun cool off.

 

Moon connects each sun ray, secondaries first, then the primaries. Their charcoal black color brightens to a faint orange. He proceeds to repair Eclipse’s arm now. In the spot where the casing was crushed, Moon can see the imprints of Blood Moon’s fingers on the metal. They really squeezed Eclipse’s arm hard.

 

He disconnects the wires, and removes the arm, replacing it with a new one. He puts the new casing on it too. Similar to the rest of Eclipse, the base color darkens to a faint black and red. Now with that done, Moon can move on to the final repairs.

 

With Eclipse’s chest still open, it is no issue removing the broken casing. The systems that need work are difficult to reach, but he does his best.

 

------------

 

Silence. That is all Eclipse can hear. He still feels himself present, however. He shouldn’t be. He died, he knows he died. His system completely failed. His eyes open slightly, kept in a squint. Everything is blurry, but he can make out colors overhead. His mindscape. He’s in his mindscape. Why is he in his mindscape? He pushes himself up, but feels immedietly light headed. He falls back, and he’s caught by someone. Looking towards them though, he can make out a very blurry figure. A bright glow emits from them, which forces him to have to squeeze his eyes shut again. He’s been in darkness for too long, the rush of light overstimulates him. He had to take a moment.

 

When his eyes open again, some of the blur had faded, but he still can’t make everything out clearly. The figure hadn’t left. Through the blur, Eclipse can see that this figure looks very much like him, except white, silver, blue, and gold. Their eyes shone a piercing yellow color. Before Eclipse can take in many more of their details despite the blur, the figure dips their head, and Eclipse can feel himself being pushed back out.