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storytellerofuntoldlegends · 1 year

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when you break the surface: ch 5

A/N: hi!!! at long last, the conclusion of this little fic. but the story isn’t over yet, there is going to be a sequel :)

Warnings: death mention, amnesia, arguing, self confidence issues

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Jimmy woke with a start and an awful crick in his neck. He groaned a little, rolling his head and rubbing the back of his neck to try and loosen up the muscles. Then he locked eyes with what- or rather, who- had woken him up. Grian was staring at him, fresh fluffy wings curled around himself.

“Timmy?” he asked incredulously, voice a little rough.

“Hold on, lemme get you some water,” Jimmy said, standing up before Grian could protest. Jimmy’s own wings stretched a little as he walked, and soon enough he returned with water for Grian. He took it, but squinted at Jimmy in confusion.

“You helped me,” he said, less of a question and more of a perplexed statement.

“Well you helped- well I mean- one bird guy to another, it seemed right to do?” Jimmy said with a nervous smile, remembering halfway through his sentence that Grian didn’t remember helping Jimmy when his wings grew. Grian was silent for a moment, pondering. Then his eyes grew wide with realization.

“I helped you,” he said softly. Jimmy jolted a little in surprise.

“You remember that?” he asked. Grian scoffed at him.

“Yeah, of course I remember! You passed out on me in the middle of my wheat field, then I had to drag you into my house…” Grian trailed off, expression twisting with confusion.

“Grian?” Jimmy asked uncertainly. Lady Death said part of the deal was that he wouldn’t remember this world- so why was he remembering when he had helped Jimmy?

“Jimmy, what world was that on?” Grian asked, voice deceptively light. Jimmy’s feathers bristled, and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Oh! Uh- y’know, I don’t really remember! Was a while ago, I think,” Jimmy said, voice coming out a little frenzied.

“I don’t remember that house, or that field. But I remember pulling you from that field, and pushing you off the roof so you would learn to fly, because you’d never-” Grian stopped abruptly.

“Grian?”

“You never had wings before here,” Grian said, looking Jimmy dead in the eyes.

“Well, um- no, surely-”

“And you were surprised that I remembered helping you- Jimmy, what am I forgetting,” Grian demanded, and Jimmy’s blood ran cold at the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it flash of purple in Grian’s eyes. Grian’s deal with Lady Death was that he wouldn’t remember. But the Watchers weren’t letting him forget. Or specifically, they weren’t letting Grian forget the mockery they had made of Jimmy, because of course they wanted him to remember that. But in doing so, they were spitting in the face of death. Jimmy had the feeling that Lady Death wouldn’t be so fond of that.

“Grian, I don’t know what you’re-”

“Stop lying, Timmy. I know you know something. Out with it already,” he said firmly, and Jimmy winced at the sudden flash of multiple pairs of accusatory purple eyes staring at him. Maybe Jimmy should have warned Lady Death that trying to give a former Watcher amnesia might not exactly work like intended.

“I don’t think I’m allowed to say,” Jimmy said meekly. Grian made an irritated sound, a mix of a growl and what sounded like a scathing mutter of the word Listener. Jimmy flinched, but Grian didn’t seem to notice or care. He seemed far too busy scrambling out of bed to grab one of his sweaters, roughly pulling it over his head and shoving his new wings through the openings in the back. Jimmy rose to his feet, words of concern on his tongue but the furious air around Grian stopping him from letting them loose.

“Well if you aren’t going to tell me, I’m going to find out for myself,” Grian fumed, storming out his front door. Jimmy scrambled after him, and before he could shout out a reminder that his wings had just grown out, Grian took off into the sky- in the direction of his former base.

Jimmy flew after Grian as fast as he could. For a guy who had just grown wings, Grian was a pretty good flier. That bothered Jimmy more than he cared to admit. None of this was going like he had expected it to… he had wanted to help Grian with flying again, repay what Grian had done for him- but instead he got this. Grian nearing full Watcher-mode in an amnesiac state and flying off the handle. (Jimmy was a little jealous, too- how come Grian could fly just fine after growing new wings?)

He had briefly considered getting Joel or Scar to help with the… situation, but neither of them knew the exact circumstances of how Grian came back and why it would be such a problem if he figured out how. Plus, the only person who might have an inkling about Watcher related shenanigans would be Scar, but he was MIA again. So it was up to Jimmy to clean up this mess.

He found Grian standing in the middle of the path before his old base, surveying the overgrown wheat fields. Jimmy landed beside him, but Grian paid him no mind, heading to the doors of his base as if on autopilot. He stopped at the door, hand lingering on the wood with a perplexed expression.

“I don’t remember gathering the wood for this. Or crafting the door. Or placing it,” he said, voice more fragile than Jimmy expected.

“Grian-” Jimmy started, voice soft- but was cut off by Grian whirling around with a furious expression, all fragility gone.

“But I remember trying to shove it open to drag you inside- why do I remember that?!” Grian snapped.

“I- I don’t know! Y’know, I think this might be an old base of Joel’s- yeah! You know how he is, he probably built this, decided he didn’t like it, and built a new one!” Jimmy said with a nervous laugh. Grian didn’t buy it for a second.

“Timmy, you’re an awful liar. You know something- why- why are you listening to them, what did they do?!” Grian said, starting off fuming but his voice turning soft with concern and horror. Jimmy just wasn’t sure who he was concerned for here- himself or Jimmy.

“Grian I swear to you, the W- they don’t have anything to do with your lack of memory,” Jimmy said solemnly. Grian scrutinized him for a moment or two.

“Then who else is? Do Scar and Joel know anything about this?” he demanded.

“No, I promise you, they don’t know anything. I- they don’t need to be tangled up in all this,” Jimmy replied, starting to feel a little frantic. If Grian found out the truth, would Lady Death take him back? Would he be dead again?

“Then what- they had been acting weird when I first came here too- not as weird as you’ve been, but-” Grian abruptly cut himself off.

“Grian?” Jimmy asked timidly.

“They looked at me like they’d seen a ghost. You too,” Grian said, sounding a little numb.

“Now hold on-”

“I died, didn’t I,” Grian said, more of a statement than a true question.

“I…” Jimmy trailed off uncertainly.

“Didn’t I,” Grian prompted, glaring up at him. Jimmy’s shoulders slumped as he sighed in defeat.

“You did,” he said weakly.

“But how am I- this world isn’t- Timmy, what did you do?!” Grian said shrilly, grabbing Jimmy by his jacket. Jimmy’s wings flapped in alarm, his hands going up to clasp over Grian’s.

“I promise you, I didn’t do anything. You just- you showed up again, after you died!” Jimmy scrambled to explain.

“But you know something about how I came back! You’ve been acting all flighty about it!” Grian protested, shaking Jimmy a little. Jimmy squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a shuddering sigh. Lady Death would probably have his head for what he was about to say, but what else was new? She said she’d seen him a lot anyway.

“I can see Death, Grian. As in- as in capital ‘D’ Death. The person,” Jimmy admitted, hanging his head in defeat. Grian’s grip loosened slightly.

“What?” Grian asked, voice coming out a little choked.

“It’s- it’s part of my… wings. You asked why I had them, when I first got them. It was- it was them. They… they gave me canary wings, cause I always die first in your games. And they let me see Death,” Jimmy added miserably. He was just waiting to be smited any second now- gods and goddesses did that, right?

“They what,” Grian growled, and Jimmy jolted a bit at his tone. Was Grian- was Grian angry at the Watchers?

“They wanted you to remember that, I guess. That’s why you remember me having wings,” Jimmy said, shrugging helplessly. Grian still had a firm grip on his jacket, and Jimmy wanted to squirm away. He didn’t want Grian to get smited too just because Jimmy was the one who had messed up.

“So Death is why I don’t remember…” Grian trailed off thoughtfully. Uh oh. Jimmy did not like that tone. That was the tone Grian got when he had a bad idea.

“Grian, whatever you’re thinking-”

“I need to see Death again to get my memories back!” Grian said, and there was a manic glee to his tone. The sound of that particular tone of his voice was all too familiar to Jimmy- he sounded like that in his death games too. Jimmy really did not like where this was going, and he tried to pull himself out of Grian’s grip.

“It doesn’t work like that- no one else can see Death!” he protested as he squirmed. But Grian’s grip stayed firm.

“Maybe, but you can see them, and I must have seen them, they just made me forget!” Grian said with a cackle that really made Jimmy squirm. How many times had he heard that laugh after something bad had happened? How many times had he heard that laugh and then died?

“Why do you wanna get your memories back so bad anyway- you’re alive, and you remember all your friends and stuff, so what’s the big deal?” Jimmy asked, trying to keep his voice steady (but the tremble of his feathers gave him away). Grian narrowed his eyes at him.

“Timmy, there’s a whole portion of my life that’s just gone. This base is here, it must’ve taken me ages- and what if there’s other stuff that’s missing that I don’t even realize? I can’t just live with these weird gaps in my memory!” Grian exclaimed, shaking Jimmy again.

“But Grian, you can’t-”

“I don’t care if you think I can’t see them, or whatever your silly little head is worrying about. Either figure out how to help me get my memories back, or don’t get in my way,” Grian fumed, finally releasing his hold on Jimmy to shove him away. Jimmy stumbled back, just barely catching his footing with a flap of his wings. Grian glared at him, but there was also something expectant in his expression.

Jimmy only thought for half a second before flying away. He knew it was cowardly, he knew he should have tried to stop Grian from whatever he was going to do- but Jimmy had made enough of a mess of things already. Lady Death had delivered Grian to him so that Jimmy could protect him, and he failed. Worse than that, he revealed that she existed to Grian. He didn’t exactly name her, but now Grian was going to be looking for her. And it was all his fault.

Jimmy was moping in his home, wondering how he hadn’t been smited yet, when a familiar voice boomed in his ear.

“Canary,” came Lady Death’s voice, and a surprised chirp escaped Jimmy’s lips as he startled out of his chair in shock. His head whipped around, trying to spot her- but was perplexed when he seemed to be the only one in the room.

“Uh. It’s Jimmy, actually,” he said, and internally he cursed himself. Why was he correcting a goddess right before he was probably going to be struck down?

“Oh! Jimmy, right. I just wanted to check in- I would have sent a crow again, but this seems to be a bit of an emergency,” she said, concern lacing her tone. Jimmy winced.

“Look- I know I messed up, I was supposed to keep him safe and then I told him about you and-”

“Woah, slow down there, little bird! You weren’t ‘supposed’ to do anything! It is very sweet you wanted to keep your parrot friend safe, but that was never an expectation of mine. You could have even told him about me sooner if you had wanted- not that he would have believed you,” Lady Death said, and while Jimmy couldn’t see her, he could hear her amused smile in her voice.

“I- wait, you’re not mad?” Jimmy asked. Lady Death’s laughter rang in his ears.

“Of course not! But I am worried, that’s why I’m bending the rules a little to speak to you- sorry I couldn’t be there in person,” Lady Death explained. Jimmy relaxed a little, before his wings bristled again with the realization that the goddess of flipping death was worried.

“Worried about what?” Jimmy asked tentatively.

“Your friend seems very determined to meet me. I’m concerned about what means he’ll take to do so,” she said solemnly. Jimmy’s blood ran cold, wings drooping.

“You don’t think- himself? Or…” Jimmy trailed off, unsure which option was worse.

“You know him better than I do. But in any case, I am now asking you to watch out for him. Keep him- and others- safe, as best you can. If worse comes to worse… I may have to send a little more direct intervention,” Lady Death said. Jimmy nodded firmly.

“I won’t let it get to that point, I promise,” he said, determined. Lady Death let out a soft sigh.

“Good luck to you, Canary,” she said. And before Jimmy could protest or correct her- she was gone. He hadn’t realized the cloying, overwhelming, and heavy presence she had in the room until it was gone. Jimmy was alone once more, but now with new drive and sense of purpose. He wouldn’t fail Lady Death. He wouldn’t.

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