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crystalninjaphoenix · 2 months

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Escape From Suilthair

Fantasy Masks AU: Chapter Thirty-Five

A JSE Fanfic

After so long of Chase and Jameson being stuck in this city, it's finally time for them to leave. Marvin, Jackie, Henrik, and the rest of the Phantoms reach out to the two of them, and they make a plan to get them out of the city. Chase wants to say goodbye to Amabel one last time, so they wait until morning. But... things quickly go awry. And yeah. It's a long chapter so I'm not going to spend too long on the author's note. Hope you guys enjoy!

Previous Part | | From the Start | More AU | Read on AO3: CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Taglist: @brokentimewatch

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marvin woke everyone up before the sun rose, going around the boat and shaking everyone until they were roused from sleep. He merely said, “I found them. Help me get the others up.” It didn’t take long. Soon, everyone was gathered on the deck of the boat, listening to Marvin as he explained what he’d seen through Draco’s eyes. “A boathouse?” Jackie asked.

“Yes, I know what a boathouse looks like.” Marvin nodded as he paced back and forth. “I’ve seen them before, but this one was very run down. Didn’t look safe, to be honest, but it was hidden.”

“And they are both alright?” Henrik asked hopefully.

“As far as I could tell.” Marvin stopped moving. “Before we all speak with them, I should... Th-they said they discovered something very important about the King. And if it’s true... it could change everything.”

The rest of the group looked intrigued. Jackie leaned forward. “Well? Keep going!”

“I’m trying to figure out how to say it,” Marvin mumbled. “It’s quite... shocking.”

“Ah, just spit it out,” Vsevna said. Henrik nodded.

“They said that the King was being possessed,” Marvin blurted out.

Silence.

“...that...” Henrik clears his throat. “Did you just... say what I think you said? The King is being... possessed? As if... by some sort of spirit?”

“Yes,” Marvin confirmed. “Chase says that the person in his dreams is the real King, calling out for help. Which I suppose implies that this spirit is who we’ve really been fighting against this whole time.”

“But—but—but that’s a long time to be possessed!” Jackie stuttered. “We’ve been doing this for—for years now? If we assume that the spirit was behind all the King’s actions that have been worth fighting against.”

“I didn’t ask for details, I wanted everyone to be awake to hear it,” Marvin said. “So... are we ready to talk to them?”

The whole group gave various shouts of “aye” and “yes”.

“Let’s do it, then.” Marvin took the message rock out of his pocket. “Someone hold this.” Jackie hurried over and took it from him, and Marvin sat down on the deck, leaning against the mask. “I’m just going to look through Draco’s eyes to be sure there’s no danger.” He closed his eyes... and after a few moments, nodded. “They’re ready.”

Jackie immediately raised the message rock to his mouth and started speaking at it. “Chase?! Jameson?! Are you there?!”

A second passed. Then— “—ackie, is that you?!” Chase’s voice said.

“Yes! Marvin told us everything you told him. Are you both unhurt?”

“We’re fine. We were injured a little after escaping—I said that Jameson was captured for some time, right? Anyway, we’re all healed up by now.”

“Oh thank the Elders,” Jackie breathed. “We’re coming to get you out of there.”

“Whoa whoa whoa.” Henrik stepped forward and grabbed the rock from Jackie. “I think we need some more informa—” He realized he wasn’t speaking into the stone and quickly fixed that. “I think we need some more information first. Where are you two? In relation to the rest of the city? Marvin mentioned you were on the edge, but which edge?”

“Yea, we’re on the very edge. There’s nothing but water to my left right now. I think we’re on the... northeast edge?”

“Great, that is as far as possible from where we are right now,” Henrik muttered.

“We could try to get closer to meet with you?” Chase suggested.

“That may work. Hang on a moment. Vsevna?” Henrik turned to face him, making sure that he was still speaking into the rock. “Do you think that the boat could sail around the edge of the Suilthair island and then approach at the edge where Chase and Jameson are.”

Vsevna frowned. “Perhaps, but... ah, can they hear me speak right now?”

“Oh! No, you need to be holding it. Here.” Henrik passed the message stone to him.

“Thank you.” Vsevna smiled at him, then turned serious again. “We could do as sova says and sail around to meet you. But the problem is that it will be very noticeable. Boats carrying goods to Suilthair can only dock at the South Dock. And that is only if they are carrying something very heavy or hard to transport. More usually, cargo is required to be unloaded on the shore, transferred to a ferry, and then taken to Suilthair. If the King’s people notice a boat sailing around the city, they will raise an alarm. If we are lucky, they will send out boats to board us. If we are unlucky, they will send wizard spells at us from the shore hoping to sink us.”

“That’s... a lot,” Chase said slowly. “So... no boats at all go around Suilthair? What about a boat sailing from the north to the south? Or from the south to the north? Not stopping in the city, but continuing past, down the Muinra Avon and through the Green Lake. Could you pretend to be one of those?”

“Those boats do exist, but we will have to get right up to the city for you to board,” Vsevna explained. “And that will be suspicious.”

“Oh! What if you we don’t get right up to the city?” Marvin suggested.

Vsevna walked over. “Hold on a moment, Marvin, explain that with the rock in hand.”

Marvin held out his hand for the rock—eyes still closed while he saw through Draco’s eyes—and started speaking into it. “We could find some rowboats or some such. Our boat could sail out around the city, not getting close to it, and then you could come out to meet us in a rowboat.”

“That’s a good idea, but... uh...” Chase hesitated. “I don’t think... there are any rowboats anywhere in Suilthair.”

The group of Phantoms muttered darkly. “Are you sure?” Marvin asked. “I didn’t see any while I was there, true, but one of Suilthair’s main trades is fish from the lake. There must be rowboats.”

A moment passed. Then Chase’s voice returned. “Jameson says that three years ago the King made it illegal for anyone to own boats of their own. All boats have to be rented from the ferry dock—the one on the shore, not the one in Suilthair.”

“What a crock of shit!” Marvin growled.

Jackie walked over and took the rock. “The King must want to control ways in and out of the city. He seems awful keen to control the waters in general, actually. We heard tell while on the move that he’s building up a navy—a real, proper navy.”

“That’s... worrying,” Chase said slowly. “Um... hang on, Jameson is suggesting something.” A few moments passed. Then he returned. “Jameson thinks that some of you should rent a rowboat from the ferry dock. You can sail it up to the edge where we’re waiting, and meanwhile, your main boat can sail around the lake. Once the rowboat picks us up, it rows out to meet the boat.”

Jackie raised an eyebrow. “That’s a good plan. Or at least, the bones of a good plan.” He looked around at the rest of the group. “Any better ideas?” No one spoke up. “Great. It should be a small group of us who go get the rowboat. Who wants to come?”

“I think I should,” Marvin said. “I can keep watch on them through Draco. Make sure that we’re in the right locations to meet each other.”

“I will stay on the ship, then,” Henrik announced. “We have already taken a big risk by taking all our leaders on this trip. We should not make the risk worse by putting all of us in a small boat.”

“That’s true...” Jackie said. “Marvin’s our lookout, then. We should take two more people. Good fighters. I can be one, if there’s just one other.”

One of Vsevna’s crew raised a hand. “You’re still two leaders in a small boat.”

Jackie laughed. “That’s true, too. But I’m a very good fighter. And this is an important mission. We need very good fighters.”

“In that case, take Mona with you,” Vsevna suggested, pointing out a woman with short black hair and a cat mask. “She’s handy with a blade.”

“You don’t want to go, Captain?” Mona asked.

Vsevna shook his head. “My skills are better suited on the ship, I think.” Not to mention Henrik was staying, too. Everyone noticed the way the two of them were leaning close to each other. Still so early into their official courtship, they don’t want to leave each other, and everyone knows.

For once, Jackie doesn’t send Henrik a teasing look. This was not the time. “That’s settled, then,” he said. “Chase, Jameson, I’m going to reach you with a rowboat, along with Marvin and one of Vsevna’s crew, Mona.”

“A wolf and two cats!” Someone commented, and Marvin rolled his eyes.

“Great,” Chase said. “When... when are you planning on doing this?”

“Well, I hear fishing happens early in the morning, so we’d have to act soon or wait until tomorrow if we want to blend in with the fishers renting boats.”

“Um... how early?” Chase asked. “Because, um... well... a-a little bit after sunrise, someone... m-my daughter shows up.”

Jackie inhaled sharply. “You found your family?!” he said excitedly. “Then we need to get them out of there!”

“I—I don’t think that’s... possible,” Chase said. “I-it’ll be dangerous. And... Stacia, my wife... she’s been... enchanted. I think everyone from my old city was. They want to stay here. They have whole new names and lives and everything. Sh-she wouldn’t... she wouldn’t listen to me, if I tried to get her out of here. And... if I took the children... she might... I-I don’t know what she would do, but it won’t be good for anyone.”

Silence. Jackie and Henrik looked at each other, aghast. Even Marvin opened his eyes to stare at the other two with wide-eyed disbelief. “Marvin, is there any way to break an enchantment?” Henrik asked. “Perhaps with wizardry?”

“I-it varies depending on who’s been enchanted,” Marvin stammered. “And how long they’ve been under the spell. In... in any case, I don’t... know any spells to do it. I’ve been trying to remember some ever since we learned the truth about the King, but I haven’t, a-and I couldn’t exactly research spells this past fortnight.”

“If you guys are talking about ways to break the enchantment... don’t,” Chase said quietly. “It’s fine. They’re safe here, at least. And I think they’ll continue to be. I guess I don’t know that for sure... but call it an instinct. Anyway, they’ll definitely be in more danger with us than here. So... I-I can’t.”

More silence. Then Jackie took a deep breath. “If you don’t want to try, we won’t,” he said into the message rock.

“But um... like I was saying, a little after sunrise, my daughter shows up,” Chase continued. “I want to say goodbye to her.”

“We can make sure you have time to do that,” Jackie said softly.

“Thank you,” Chase said, his voice just as quiet. “Um... is there anything else?”

“Specifics on our end, but you just need to know to watch out for our boat,” Jackie said. “We’ll probably put our masks on as we get close, so watch for that.”

“We will. Thank you.”

“Be careful,” Jackie said.

“You as well.”

And with that, Jackie lowered the message rock. He looked around at the others. “Well... sounds like we have to prepare.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chase paced across the floor, glancing through the crack in the ajar door whenever he got to the right angle to. No sign of anyone outside. No sign at all, even as the sun slowly rose and lit the wooden walkways with watery gray light. Jameson stood in the corner of the boathouse, going over some of the defense drills that Chase had been teaching him. Both of them were nervous. Chase couldn’t think about anything but the upcoming escape, mind filled with dread for what might happen.

Until, eventually, he saw Amabel walking up the path towards the boathouse. Chase immediately stopped walking and opened the door a crack. She normally waved and hurried up when she caught sight of him moving the door. But today she just smiled and continued forward normally. She squeezed into the door through the gap Chase had open. “Hi, Dad.”

“Hey, Amy.” Chase smiled at her, then became serious again. “Is everything good?”

“Hmm? Yea, why d’you ask?”

“You just seem a bit less excited than normal,” Chase said.

“Maybe I am.” Amabel shrugged—and then her eyes landed on Draco, curled up on the floor, and gasped. “Kitty!”

Chase laughed. “Yep! Kitty. He belongs to a friend of mine.”

“Can I pet him?”

“You can try.”

Amabel nodded, taking her new task seriously, and slowly approached Draco. She held her hand out. Draco sniffed it. And when he didn’t turn away she started petting him, making little “aww” noises as she did.

Chase let her do that for a moment, watching with a faint smile. Jameson stopped his drills and walked over to the boathouse’s door, peering out through the gap. “Um... Amabel,” Chase finally said. “He suddenly arrived here with news. It’s... it’s time for us to go.”

Amabel looked at him. “You’re leaving? When?”

“As soon as possible,” Chase said. “Now, maybe. But... I wanted to tell you. A-and you can tell Quentin when you get home.” He crouched down so their eyes were level. “And I want to remind you that it’s not because of you, or Quentin, or Mom. I don’t want to leave, but I have to. We’ll see each other again. I love you.”

Before Amabel could say anything in response, Jameson inhaled sharply and looked back at them. Chase? There are warriors outside.

Chase’s attention immediately sharpened. He straightened up and walked over, peering through the gap next to Jameson. There were indeed warriors outside. Right outside. Wearing the royal crest. And walking directly towards the boathouse at the end of the walkway. “Fuck,” he whispered. “Do they know we’re here?!”

I don’t know! But they’re blocking the way out!

“They are.” Chase nodded. “Alright. We’re going to have to swim for it. Through the hole in the floor, just like last time.”

Jameson nodded. He didn’t look happy about it, but he sat on the edge of the hole, his legs dangling in the water. What about your daughter and Draco?

Amabel scooped Draco into her arms, holding him so his back legs stuck out. “I’ll go distract them!” she said, and ran right out of the door and towards the warriors.

“Amy, no—!” Chase hissed.

But it was too late. She was running right up to the warrior in front, saying something. The warriors stopped, all of them looking down at her. One at the back pushed to the front. They were wearing a helmet that covered all of their features. Amabel tried to talk to them. The helmeted warrior looked down at her, completely expressionless—and then grabbed her by the arm. The other warriors ran up to the boathouse.

Fear surged through Chase’s chest. “No!” he shouted, and he burst out through the doorway, immediately grabbing the nearest warrior and throwing them to the ground. The other two nearest backed up, starting to draw their swords, so Chase bent over and grabbed the sword from the fallen warrior’s sheathe and quickly blocked their strikes. He put all his effort into pushing the swords back—

And then Jameson appeared, shoving one of the warriors off the side of the walkway and into the lake. Without the second sword pushing back against him Chase’s efforts sent his sword flying forward, knocking the warrior’s aside and digging into their arm. They didn’t flinch, though, and swung their sword back around. Chase quickly ducked and ran past. There were two other warriors still standing—three counting the helmeted one. These two each drew a bow and tried to nock an arrow on the string. But Chase was fast. He ran up to them and swung the sword wildly, forcing them to dodge out of the way. The younger warrior—probably the newest—dropped the bow and the single arrow he was holding. Chase quickly picked it up.

While he was doing that, there was another splash, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Jameson had pushed a second warrior into the lake. The one who’d been knocked down to the walkway gets up again. “Hey!” Chase shouted. Jameson looked towards him, then followed his gaze, and barely managed to dodge the warrior trying to grab him.

A sword came swinging out of nowhere. Chase, distracted, wasn’t quite able to dodge. At least it was only the flat of the blade that smacked into his shoulder. But there was still a burst of pain. He stumbled, and swung the bow around, smacking the wood into the side of the warrior’s head and stunning them for a moment. Long enough for Jameson to rush over and tackle the other warrior, who was also trying to attack, no doubt aiming to reclaim the bow Chase took.

Chase took advantage of the warrior’s confusion to shove them off the side into the water. Then he aimed the bow and arrow at the helmeted warrior. “Let go of her!” he shouted.

“Would you shoot a child?” the helmeted warrior said calmly, holding Amabel close to them. “Would you shoot your daughter?”

Chase started. “How do you know—”

A yowl filled the air, and Draco wriggled out of Amabel’s grip, scrambling up her shoulder and jumping right at the warrior’s face. Even with the helmet, the warrior still needed to see, and they instinctively yelled and staggered to the side as they tried pulling Draco off. Amabel immediately ran out of arm’s length.

“Ja—hey!” Chase started to shout Jameson’s name before realizing that probably wouldn’t be a good idea. “Let’s go!”

Jameson scrambled to his feet and ran towards Chase. The two of them then ran off together, with Chase grabbing Amabel as they went past her. “After them!” one of the warriors shouted.

The three of them ran down the wooden walkways, turning at every possible opportunity. Until, finally, the sound of footsteps behind them started to fade. Chase grabbed a side door in an empty-looking building and threw it open, pushing Jameson and Quentin inside before going in himself. He closed the door behind him, breathing slowly, listening. The footsteps faded completely. Chase let out a breath and looked around. This appeared to be a living area for a small cottage. Currently empty. And nobody was visible through the doorway to the attached bedroom. The person who lived here must have left the door unlocked. “Are you okay, Amabel?” Chase asked.

Amabel nodded, eyes wide, looking a bit overwhelmed.

“You’re not hurt?”

She shook her head.

What was that?! Jameson asked. It’s like they knew we were there!

“N-no, I d-don’t think so,” Amabel said. “There are... there’re lots of warriors around today. All over. Searching everywhere.”

“Oh no,” Chase breathed, going pale. “This is the worst time for them to do that! Not that there’d be a good time. But if they just waited a couple hours—”

What do we do?! Jameson asked.

“They—they expect us around the edges of the city. We have to stick in this area until we can’t. We’ll contact them with this magic rock.” Chase took the message rock out of his pocket. “Where’s Dra—”

There’s a slight meow, and Draco hopped through the curtain blocking the window and into the living room. He looked around in a surprisingly human way until he saw the group. Then he purred, and a voice came from the message rock. “Chase! Jameson! You’re alright?!” It’s Marvin, whisper-shouting.

“We’re okay,” Chase confirmed. “Were you watching through Draco?”

“Yes, I saw everything. We’re in the boat looking for you. You’ve run farther into the city, you need to get out and find us!”

“Can’t you row between the buildings towards us?” Chase asked.

“I—maybe?” A moment passed. “We can try to get closer. I’ll try to guide the two of us together. We’ll be there soon! Be careful!”

“We will.” Chase promised. He lowered the message rock and looked at Jameson—then at Amabel. “Amy. Y-you have to go home now.”

“Huh?!” Amabel’s eyes widened. “But—but wh-what if the warriors come?!”

“You’ll—you’ll be fine,” Chase said, trying not to let his doubt show. “They won’t hurt you or Mom and Quentin.”

“But—but they saw me with you! What if they ask me about you?!”

“Then you tell the truth, okay? You tell the truth. Don’t worry about me.” Chase was sure he hadn’t given her any important details. “You have to get out of here! Go home.”

Amabel hesitated... then nodded. “O-okay. Goodbye, then.” She walked over to the cottage’s door. After putting her hand on the doorknob, she looked back, as if waiting for Chase to ask her to stay.

“I love you,” he said.

“I... love you too, Dad,” she said. Then she opened the door and ran out into the city.

Chase watched her go, fear settling into a heavy ball of lead in his stomach. He didn’t know she would be safe. But he was sure she would be safer here than with him... right?

Jameson put a hand on his shoulder. Chase jumped a little, then looked over him and sighed. “I... want her to be okay,” he said quietly. “And the rest of my family.”

I’m sure she will be, Jameson said.

“Yea...” Chase took a deep breath. “Well, we need to get out of here.” He took his bag off his back. “Here, I think this is a good time to mask our faces. We’ll probably be jumped by warriors no matter what we do, so might as well declare ourselves.”

Jameson nodded. Maybe we’ll throw people off.

“Maybe.” Chase took out Jameson’s rabbit mask and handed it over, then put on his own deer mask. “Let’s go.” He looked down at Draco. “Are you there, Marvin? Help us find you.”

Draco stretched, then trotted out the doorway. Chase glanced at Jameson—now wearing his rabbit mask, his features hidden. Here. He held out a quiver of arrows.

“Where did you get this?” Chase asked, surprised, as he took it.

From one of the warriors. I might have torn the buckle loop when I tore it off.

“It’s fine, I’ll just wear it in the waist position instead of the back position.” Chase fastened it in place. “Oh. There’s a little knife sheath attached. Here, you take that.” He drew the knife and handed it over.

Thank you, Jameson signed, and took it.

“Ready?” Chase asked. Jameson nodded. “Then let’s go.” The two of them left the cottage and headed out after Draco, hoping to find the boat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jackie, Marvin, and the crewmate named Mona had found it easy enough to rent a rowboat. The man in charge of the rentals had raised his eyebrows slightly at the way Marvin kept his eyes closed, but Jackie explained it away as him being his blind brother who wanted to try and help despite his lack of sight. Marvin nodded along. It wasn’t the worst excuse.

They were out on the lake, skirting around the south part of Suilthair, when the warriors attacked Chase and Jameson. Marvin reported everything to the other two as he saw it through Draco’s eyes, including their relative position to the rest of the city. They were now in the east section instead of the northeast, still in the floating neighborhoods but no longer on the edge. “They’re going to make a dash for it,” he reported.

“So we better make a dash for it, too,” Jackie muttered. He and Mona were rowing, but they paused to put on their masks. “Marvin, do you need help with your mask?”

“No, I could put it on with my eyes closed,” Marvin said—and indeed he could.

“We’re going actually into the neighborhoods, then, sirs?” Mona asked.

“You don’t have to call us sirs, I told you,” Jackie said.

“Force of habit, you show respect on a ship. But my question?”

“Yes, we’re going into the neighborhoods,” Jackie confirmed. “Meaning we might also be spotted by warriors. Strange... why do you think they’re patrolling so much? Do they know?”

“I suppose there’s a chance Jair had a vision while he was captured...” Marvin said slowly. “But he would have told us that.”

“He definitely would’ve,” Jackie muttered in agreement. “It might be that the King just decided to throw all the swords at Chase and Jameson. Maybe... maybe because they figured out that... secret of his.”

“Do you believe it, sirs?” Mona asked. “That there’s a possession?”

“Do you?” Marvin rebutted.

“I don’t know much of your spirits here in Glasúil,” she said. “I’m from Viargul myself. But I think it’s possible. I just don’t know how likely.”

“Not... all that likely,” Marvin said slowly. “But again... not impossible.”

As they talked, the boat slowly rowed closer to the edge of the floating neighborhoods. “Where do we bring the boat?” Jackie asked Marvin.

“Hold on a moment, I’m trying to get oriented.” Marvin opened his eyes for a brief moment, then closed them again. “It’s hard to match stuff up normally while I’m looking through Draco’s eyes. And the layout of the city is different than it was last time I was here. It makes sense, of course, that was years ago, but...” He trailed off, concentrating. “I think... turn into an opening here.”

The building closed around them as they rowed in between the walkways. Jackie and Mona kept rowing until the walkways became too close, the ends of the oars knocking against the planks. “Where are they?” Jackie muttered, looking around. Chase and Jameson were nowhere in sight. In fact, no one was in sight. There weren’t many people out on the walkways. Surely a city as big as the capital should have more people going about their business.

“I’m telling Draco to guide them closer here,” Marvin muttered. “We might have to tie the boat here and go meet them halfway. There are warriors all around. They might need help.”

Mona immediately went about tying the boat to the walkway, using the rope that came with it to attach the boat to a pole with a lantern on it.

“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” Jackie said. “But let’s go, then.”

The three of them climbed out of the boat and onto the walkway, running deeper into the city.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“There they are!”

Chase glanced over his shoulder and saw a squad of warriors pointing directly at him and Jameson. “Shit! Go!” He pushed Jameson around a corner and ran after him, just in time to avoid an arrow whizzing right past them.

Unfortunately, down the walkway is another squad of warriors, led by one of the helmeted warriors. Jameson skidded to a halt just as the second squad noticed them and ducked down a branching path to the side, Chase right behind him. This was not going well! They’d managed to be stealthy for a while, but there were just too many warriors out and about.

Draco ran out in front, speeding past the humans but occasionally looking back at them to be sure they were still there. He guided them through the twists and turns. Arrows flew past them, none hitting them but Chase felt a couple slice through his skin. A horde of footsteps pounded on the wooden walkways behind them—

And then suddenly, the walkway ahead of them broke apart, its planks lifting up into the air. Chase skidded to a halt, Jameson right beside them. There was now a gap in the path before them, too large to jump across. On the other side of it stood a woman with pale blonde hair and unnaturally blue eyes, wearing a black shirt and riding skirt. One hand was raised into the air, yellow light swirling around it, and the other clutched an emerald amulet around her neck. She looked across the gap at them and Draco hissed. Chase had only seen this woman twice, but he knew her. “Thalia Tinechroí,” he said.

“Lady Thalia Tinechroí,” Thalia corrected. “Though I’m glad to see my reputation precedes me.”

Chase quickly nocked an arrow in his bow.

“Now think this over!” Thalia said, seeing him do this. Her eyes flicked back to Jameson. “Especially you, Lord Jairsolas.” Jameson flinched. “If you surrender now, the King will be merciful. You will live. I cannot promise you will if you fight.”

Chase laughed. “He’s not going to be merciful. And do you know why, Lady? It’s because he’s scared.” He grinned at her, baring his teeth slightly. “The King you’re devoted to is scared. And whatever he’s promised you for helping him, he’s not going to give it to you. Because he’s not who you think he is. Not at all.”

Thalia blinked, surprised. For a moment, she hesitated.

And that was long enough for Chase to loose his arrow.

Thalia cried out as the arrow hit her arm right above the wrist. Her concentration broke and the wooden planks toppled to the ground, landing perfectly back in place to cover the gap. “Now!” Chase shouted, and he and Jameson ran across the walkway towards Thalia, the warriors behind them still pursuing. Jameson shoved Thalia to the side and she had to quickly right herself or risk falling off the walkway into the lake. As Chase and Jameson passed her, the warriors behind them hesitated, not wanting to just push past a noblewoman. “What are you all standing around for?!” Thalia shouted. “After them! Loose arrows!”

A wave of arrows soared through the air—but Chase and Jameson had ducked around a corner, so they all missed spectacularly. Chase dug the message rock out of his pocket. “Marvin?! Jackie?! Where are you?!”

“No names!” Marvin’s voice came immediately. “We’ve gotten into the city, we’re getting close, I promise! Damn it, all these streets look the same!”

“Mar—Th-there’s—Thalia Tinechroí is here!” Chase gasped out.

“Yes, I saw! We’ll be there soon!”

“Enid!” Thalia’s voice came from behind them. “Come to me!” There was a burst of light behind them, and then a howl. Chase glanced over his shoulder and saw a dog running forward, pulling ahead of all the humans at a quick pace, a dog with a deep red-brown coat that’s marred by a scar along its side. Draco hissed and stopped running, turning to face the dog.

“Draco!” Chase shouted, but the cat wouldn’t listen. As soon as the dog came close enough he leapt at it, and the two animals began fighting, bodies flailing.

“Don’t worry about him!” Marvin’s voice came from the message rock. “He’s buying you some time. He’ll meet up with us later. Turn right at the next chance!”

There was no time to hesitate. Chase and Jameson kept going. More arrows were loosed, and more of them scratched them—until, finally, one hit. Chase cried out as it was buried in his back, just under his waist. He staggered and Jameson grabbed him, pulling him onward. A blast of bright blue fire flew past them—Thalia was attacking. How foolish, to throw fire in a wooden town!

The next right branch was coming up. Jameson and Chase turned it quickly. There! At the end of the walkway, three figures with white masks covering their faces. One of them shouted out and drew his two swords. Another grabbed something around his neck and made an arcing gesture with his hand. An archway outlined in white glowing light appeared before Chase and Jameson—a shortcut. On the other side was Marvin, Jackie, and that other Phantom, Mona. Chase and Jameson barrelled through, and Marvin quickly shut off the magic doorway, leaving a good distance between their group and Thalia and the warriors. “Why can’t you just do that to get us to the boat?!” Chase cried out.

“Boats are hard! They don’t stay still!” Marvin said. “I tried it out a couple times on the journey over but—” Suddenly, Jameson threw his arms around him in a tight hug. Marvin stumbled back, surprised. But then he gave Jameson a quick hug back. “I’m—I’m glad that you two are alright,” he said softly.

“You’ve been shot!” Jackie gasped, looking at the arrow sticking out of Chase’s back.

“No time to stop!” Chase said. “Where’d you come from?!”

“Right! This way!” Jackie started running back the way they came, and the rest of the group followed after. “God damn, those arrows!” Jackie shouted as more of them flew through the air. One hit his back but just bounced off the chain mail shirt he wears. “Can you do anything about that, Magic Cat?”

“On it!” Marvin spun around, flinging a ball of light behind them. It expanded midair, growing to a circular shield. The arrows hit it and immediately fell to the ground—but then a blast of white fire hit the shield, cracking it. Marvin cursed under his breath and threw more light at the shield to reinforce it.

“We’re not too far away now!” Mona said. “But once we get there, we still have to cast off!”

“I can help with that,” Marvin said. “Just worry about getting there first!”

“Can’t you do your doorway thing for that?” Chase asked.

Marvin hesitated. “I’ll have to take the shield down so I can concentrate on that. Get somewhere safe!”

Jameson sprinted ahead suddenly, grabbing onto the door of the nearest building—some sort of tailor judging by the clothing in the windows. He pulled it open and gestured for everyone to go inside. They all piled through, and Chase slammed the door closed behind them.

“Don’t mind us!” Jackie said cheerfully to the group of three people working in the shop, who were all staring at the Phantoms, stunned. “Just passing through! Might want to get out of the way of the windows!”

An arrow whizzed through the window at that very moment, tearing the sleeve of a shirt hanging there. One of the tailors shrieked and all three of them hid behind a table of fabric at the back of the shop.

Marvin clutched his focus and made that same arcing gesture as before, tracing a doorway in midair. Light followed his finger, and another doorway opened up, through which was a wooden walkway with a boat tied to a pole with a lantern. “Go!” Marvin shouted.

Jackie pushed Chase through first, then Jameson. Chase stumbled out onto the new wooden walkway, looking around to get his bearings—and saw something completely impossible. He stared.

“Dad!” Amabel ran down the walkway towards him. She was holding hands with Quentin, pulling him along behind her. “I knew I’d find you eventually! All the warriors were shouting about you being nearby! Something about re-in-force-mints?”

“Amabel,” Chase said quietly. “Quentin. What are you two doing here?”

“We’re gonna come with you!” Quentin shouted.

“No, no, you are not coming with us!” Chase said sternly. Behind him, Jackie, Mona, and Marvin all ran through the doorway, which disappeared as soon as Marvin walked through. “You are staying here! Where it’s safe!”

“But Dad! What if it’s not safe at home?” Amabel asked seriously. “The warriors were going all over, into people’s houses and stuff, they’d remember me and know I was with you! And that’d put Mom and Quen in danger!”

“I—I see where your reasoning is, but—but i-it won’t be safe where we’re going!” Chase said desperately.

“But—but we—we’re already here!” Amabel said defensively.

While this conversation was happening, Mona got into the boat and started untying it. Jackie and Marvin stared at the kids in shock. “What’s uh... what’s going on here?” Jackie said slowly.

“We’re coming with Dad!” Quentin announced.

“No, you are not,” Chase said. “Get home now! It’s going to be dangerous here soon—”

And just as he said that, another doorway formed, a bit down the walkway from where Marvin’s was. Warriors began pouring out. Jackie’s head snapped towards them and he ran forward, blocking their way. The warriors drew their swords, and a fight started, with Jackie holding them off as they came out of the narrow doorway. “Get in the boat!” he shouted at the others.

“Get in the boat!” Marvin repeated, shoving Chase and Jameson that way.

“Go home!” Chase ordered the kids. “Now!”

Amabel hesitated, looking back at the warriors a little nervously. But Quentin darted forward, diving into the boat. And Amabel followed not long after. “Ha! Now we hafta come with you!” Quentin said.

“No! That’s not how this works!” Chase rushed over to the side, getting down to grab Quentin. “Come on, you’re getting out of there.”

A warrior broke through Jackie’s defense, swinging a sword at Marvin, who was looking at the situation with the kids. Jameson darted in, sinking the knife Chase gave him into the warrior’s side. The warrior shouted out and spun on him, but Marvin pushed him away with magic before he could attack Jameson. More and more warriors were getting past Jackie, though, so Jameson and Marvin quickly had to defend themselves. “There’s no time!” Marvin shouted back at Chase. “They have to come!”

Chase hesitated. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to drag them into this. But Marvin was right, there’s no time. He let go of Quentin and hopped into the boat. “I hope I don’t regret this,” he said under his breath, drawing his bow again and aiming a nocked arrow at the crowd of warriors.

Marvin and Jameson backed into the boat as well, with Marvin almost toppling over as he got in. But he recovered and sent out a blast of force magic at the warriors, pushing them back long enough for Jackie to break his fight and sprint over to the boat, jumping in with enough force to rock it. “Go!” he cried.

Marvin leaned over the side and put his hand in the water. Blue light spread out with the ripples—and all of a sudden the boat shot away from the walkway, not unlike an arrow fired from a bow, leaving a trail of blue behind it. Everyone else fell down, but recovered quickly. On the walkways, warriors were running along, trying to shoot them all. Chase pushed the kids behind him. He noticed Mona drawing a bow and shooting right back, so he did the same.

Soon they were out of the floating neighborhoods and out into the open water of the Green Lake. Marvin continued to concentrate, steering the boat with his magic. “How are you doing that?!” Amabel asked in amazement.

“Wizardry,” Marvin said simply. “The water is pushing us along.”

“Whoa.” Amabel whistled in awe. Quentin leaned over the side of the boat to look at the blue light in the water, but Chase quickly pulled him back. He looked at the two of them, the strangest mix of relief and fear bundled in a knot in his chest.

The boat flew across the lake, turning in a wide arc until the large river boat the Phantoms borrowed came into view. “That’s it!” Jackie said. “Can you make it go faster?!”

“No!” Marvin said. “But we’re almost there!”

As they approached the larger boat and the rowboat started slowing down, they could see people moving around on the deck. Someone threw a rope ladder over the side as Marvin slowly magically steered the rowboat up to the side of the larger one. The person above leaned over the edge—a blonde man wearing a mask in the shape of a dragon’s head, only one eyehole carved out of the plaster. “What has happened?!”

“Warriors caught up, captain!” Mona shouted. Ah right—the blonde man’s voice is the same one who told Chase through the message rock about Suilthair’s laws on boats. Vsevna. “We have to get underway as soon as possible!”

“Kovatch blein!” Vsevna withdrew from sight and started shouting.

“Get the kids up first,” Mona said, looking at Chase.

Chase nodded. “Amy, Quen, you need to climb up the ladder. I’ll be right behind you.”

The children both nodded seriously and started climbing up. Amabel first, and then Quentin. As soon as there was room for him, Chase started climbing behind them, watching carefully to make sure neither of them fell. Quentin was a little shaky and slow but they both made it alright.

“Chase!” Henrik ran on over—then immediately stopped, eyes wide behind his owl mask. “Wh—what?!”

“I know, but it just happened!” Chase said. “W-we can talk about it later!”

Henrik nodded. Behind Chase, Jackie, Mona, Jameson, and then Marvin climbed onto the deck. “Is anyone hurt?”

“Just Chase,” Jackie said. Chase winced. The arrow in his back was aching. He hadn’t noticed with all the running and fighting, but now the pain was returning.

“Here, Chase, let me see if I can do anything about that,” Henrik said, walking on over.

Chase stepped back. “N-not in front of the kids.”

“Well, there is not much space in here to hide from them,” Henrik said, smiling a bit.

Someone suddenly shouted. More soon joined. Sailors paused their business as the boat got underway to point out at the lake. Chase spun around. So did Jackie and Marvin. Something was flying across the water, trailing blue light—the same spell that Marvin had used. But this wasn’t a boat. It was a square of wood, like part of the wooden walkways had broken off. Standing on it was a single figure, fair hair flying in the wind.

Jameson’s eyes widened. Is that...?

“You have to be joking with me!” Marvin shouted, more annoyed than anything else.

“Vsevna! How close are we to casting off!” Henrik shouted.

“We are moving, but we are not yet to speed!” Vsevna shouted back from the helm.

The makeshift raft suddenly stopped—yes, that’s Thalia Tinechroí on it, along with her familiar, Enid. She grabbed her amulet and made that same arcing gesture Marvin made earlier. A doorway of light opened up on the boat deck. Slightly moving—no, staying in place while the boat moved. Thalia and Enid leaped through, and arrived on the boat. “You’re not getting away that easily!” she shouted.

Every single crew member drew weapons. “You damn fool, Thalia!” Marvin said, laughing a little. “Do you really think you can take out everyone on this boat?”

“Oh, I very much do, Marvin.” Thalia’s eyes glowed yellow. “You know I was always stronger.”

“You have more magic, but you are not strong,” Marvin bit out. He held out his hand to the side, and Draco appeared from nowhere, walking around the mast like he was hidden behind it the whole time. The cat trotted over to his side and hissed at Enid. “You only ever do what Mother wants you to, don’t you?!”

“It’s our duty to serve the family!”

“Good! I’m glad you’re serving your family! But I’ll stand by mine until I die!”

Thalia lunged forward, hands bursting into fire. Marvin conjured a shield and blocked her attack, then started wrapping it around her, forming a bubble. Thalia opened up another set of doorways and walked out. Enid jumped at Marvin but Draco intercepted her midair, knocking her to the side. But Draco was smaller, and tired from the fight earlier. Enid pinned him. Marvin’s head snapped to him and he threw out magic towards Draco, eyes glowing bright white. As the magic hit Draco’s body, his eyes glowed blue. And the colors of their eyes, wizard’s and familiar’s, shifted color until they were the same pale blue. Marvin gasped in surprise.

Thalia ran for Marvin again, throwing back the crew members with magic who tried to stop her. She threw out a hand and magic spun from it, forming a rope that wrapped around Marvin’s arms while he was distracted with saving Draco.

Suddenly, the light from Draco’s eyes spread across his body. He became—bigger. Growing in size until he was as big as a wolf, bigger than Enid. He threw her off easily now and pounced at Thalia. Her head whipped towards him and she tried to conjure a shield, but Draco broke through it, clawing at her. She turned and ran. While she was distracted, Jackie ran over to Marvin and cut through the magic ropes. As soon as he was free, Marvin grabbed light from his amulet. He watched as Draco drove Thalia back against the edge of the boat—and then he threw the light. It slammed against Thalia, pushing her overboard. A loud splash filled the air.

Henrik darted forward and grabbed Enid by the collar. He looked terrified just being near her but he ran over to the edge of the boat and threw her over after Thalia.

Everyone else stared in shock. Waiting, anticipating, Thalia reappearing. The whole thing happened so suddenly that it didn’t feel real. Marvin glanced around. “She can’t use magic in the water,” he said. He chuckled a little. “She’ll need all her concentration to swim.”

Chase let out a long breath. He sat down heavily on the deck of the boat. “Dad!” Amabel shouted, running over to him. Quentin wasn’t far behind. They both stopped nearby, unsure if they should hug him.

“I’m okay, Amy, Quen, don’t worry.” Chase gave them a smile. “It’s just that... this was a lot. I need to sit down.”

Quentin nodded. He sat down, too. “We’ll stay with you too.”

“Yea.” Amabel sat as well.

“Heh.” Chase shook his head fondly. “Alright.” And though he was still worried about them, and worried for their mother, as the boat sailed across the Green Lake and back towards the southward-leading river... he couldn’t help but be happy that they were here. That they were together again after so long.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #chase brody #jameson jackson #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy man #dr schneeplestein #brigid writes fanfiction #fantasymasksau

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crystalninjaphoenix · 17 days

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Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Two

A JSE Interactive Fanfic

The results are in.

Your path has been altered. Strange how such a small choice can change so much. Don't mind me accidentally voting on the poll myself, I tapped on the option while scrolling fhdjkalh So the results are actually even more in the favor of playing video games :)

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 12th at 12:00pm PST. Part Three will be up the next day, April 13th, at the same time.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

“Yeah, I’m sure the food situation is fine,” Chase says. “I want to check out the consoles that Jack’s been keeping from us.”

“Hell yeah!” Jackie grins.

Schneep rolls his eyes. “Fine. But if there is no food in the kitchen you will have to drive back to town.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” That was the price of being the only friend with a driver’s license. “Look, if something’s up, I’ll stop what I’m doing and head down there. But I doubt it is.” Chase leaves the bedroom, closing the door behind him. “C’mon, let’s go check it out.”

Jackie whoops and hurries to the staircase. Chase follows at a slower pace with Schneep trailing behind him.

Marvin and JJ are already downstairs, sitting on the sofa closest to the window. “Can’t believe it’s already getting dark,” Marvin mutters. “Love the fall, hate the lack of daylight.”

“Ah, Marvin, JJ,” Schneep says. “It is getting close to dinner time. What would you like to eat? There is no guarantee Jack will have stocked the food, but I will ask anyway.”

“You already know my list of foods I like,” Marvin says, shrugging.

I’m fine with whatever you want to make, JJ says. It sounds like we may have limited options.

“We may. I have not checked yet.”

“Hey, do you guys want to check out the PS5 with me and Chase?” Jackie asks.

“Uh, sure, I’ll watch whatever you guys do,” Marvin says.

JJ stands up. I’d rather help Henrik in the kitchen, if you don’t mind.

“Aw, I thought we were making so much progress teaching you the ways of the future!” Chase pretends to look sad.

JJ chuckles. I may join later, don’t worry.

He and Schneep headed into the kitchen while Chase, Jackie and Marvin started setting up the console and checking out what games were on it. “Jesus, does he have every Resident Evil game on here?” Chase mutters. “He does! There’s no way he’s played them all, though, since he straight-up forgot about this cabin until recently.”

“Oo! Oo! Spider-Man!” Jackie says excitedly. “Let’s play that!”

“We should choose something multiple people can play,” Marvin points out.

“Yeah, well, doesn’t look like he has a lot of those,” Chase says. “Look, Monopoly. You want to play Monopoly?”

Marvin makes a face.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Good news, everyone!” Schneep reappears in the archway leading to the kitchen. “Everything is full of food. I don’t think we are eager to cook, but JJ found some frozen pizzas in the freezer.”

“Hell yeah,” Jackie says. “How many? What toppings?”

“Well it looks like there is one for each of us, as there are five, one for each of our preferences.”

“Oh cool, I don’t have to pick off toppings!” Marvin says excitedly. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

“The oven is not big enough for all at once, so who can wait?”

“Uh, I’m not that hungry,” Chase says. “And I doubt that Jackie will want to eat right away, since he went straight for the PS5.”

“Hey! ...Well, that’s fair,” Jackie admits.

“Three is fine,” Schneep says, and turns around, going back into the kitchen.

“Sooo what are we playing?” Jackie asks.

“I saw Grand Theft Auto back there, let’s choose that,” Marvin suggests. “It’s always fun to watch even if you’re not playing.”

“Sounds good to me,” Chase says, selecting the game.

They play for about ten minutes, with Chase having primary control while Jackie and Marvin tell him what to do and occasionally try to grab the controller from him. Chase is just about ready to tell the other two to take their turn, if they’re so focused on playing, when—

The screen and lights in the room go dark.

“Aw, what?” Chase presses buttons on the controller as if that can fix it. “Did the power go out?”

Marvin groans. “We were tempting fate earlier when we said we won’t have to go down into the basement.”

Schneep and JJ run into the living room. Did everything go out? JJ asks.

“Looks like it.” Jackie punches his fist. “God damn it! Well, at least we didn’t get far.”

“Jack said the fuse box was in the basement, right?” Marvin recalls. “Schneep, you still have the house keys. Can they open the basement door?”

“I am sure they... oh.” Schneep digs around in his pocket. Then his other one. “Where did they..?”

JJ walks over to a table by the entrance and picks up the keys from there. He looks at Schneep with a raised eyebrow. You didn’t remember where you put them?

“W-well, I am sure one of those can open the basement,” Schneep stammers, embarrassed. “I will, ah, keep an eye on the... the food.” And he disappears back into the kitchen.

Jackie sighs. “Okay then. One of us should stay up here and keep an eye on things. Get everything set back up the moment the power comes on. Chase, are you okay with doing that? You were figuring out the controls faster than I was.”

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Chase agrees. “So who’s going downstairs, then?”

Jackie, Marvin, and JJ all look at each other.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #chase brody #jackieboy man #jameson jackson #marvin the magnificent #dr schneeplestein #brigid writes fanfiction #manyroadsdivergejse

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crystalninjaphoenix · 11 days

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Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Five

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You've made your decision. Wonder what you'll see? We're about halfway through the choices now! It doesn't seem like much has happened, but trust me, things get crazy from now on in all choice branches.

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 18th at 12:00pm PST. Part Six will be up the next day, April 19th, at the same time.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

“Alright, fine, we don’t have to drag Marvin upstairs,” Jackie groans. “But the moment he gets up here, I’m asking him why you guys thought he was being weird.”

JJ glances back at the basement door, looking a bit uneasy. But he relents now that the three others have made their decision. Alright. I hope he won’t be long, he says.

“It will be fine,” Schneep says. “Besides, I do not think we should leave cooking food unsupervised. Especially in a cabin that is not ours. If we burn the oven Jack will be so angry. Speaking of which, I am going back to keep an eye on them.” He says that last part as he turns around and heads back into the kitchen.

Jackie and Chase sit back down on the sofa. JJ hovers for a bit before sitting down in a nearby armchair. “Are we all good?” Chase asks.

“Yeah, of course,” Jackie says. “Now let’s catch up to where we were before. Maybe it’s my turn now?”

“We’llll seeee,” Chase says as he picks up the controller. “If you didn’t mess with the game while I was downstairs with JJ, then you’ll have earned your turn.”

“What?! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, like you wouldn’t take the opportunity to fuck with me by putting me halfway across the map.”

Jackie grins. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Everything is in order, though, so Jackie gets his turn. But he doesn’t play for that long before the basement door opens. Marvin stands in the doorway. He glances at the TV. “Continuing without me?”

“We didn’t know how long you’d be down there!” Jackie says defensively.

“It’ll be a little while longer,” Marvin says. “Where’s Schneep?”

Right as he says that, Schneep appears in the kitchen entrance. “Ah, Marvin. Good to...” Schneep trails off. “Are... are you okay?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I... don’t know...” Schneep says quietly. Chase has to agree with him. There’s something... different about Marvin right now. He sees the same faint confusion on Jackie and JJ’s faces. Maybe Marvin is standing differently, somehow?

“Well, I’m fine,” Marvin says. “I found something strange. Come on, I want to show you guys.” And he turns around, going back down the stairs.

JJ gets to his feet. Now we are DEFINITELY going after him, he says, glaring at the others. There’s no room for argument in his face.

“Okay, okay,” Schneep says. “Let me just turn off the ovens. This may take a while.”

He does that, and the four of them get up and go down the stairs to the basement. The hallway extends before them. Marvin is nowhere in sight. “Uh... where’d he go?” Jackie asks.

“He was in this big room at the back before,” Chase says. “He’s probably there now. Come on.”

But when they arrive there, Marvin is still nowhere to be seen.“Uh...” Chase’s mind goes blank. “Did any of you guys notice anything in the other rooms? Was one of the doors open?”

“I did not see anything,” Schneep says.

“Yeah, they were all closed except for the one with the fuse box,” Jackie says. “And that one was open. I didn’t see Marvin in there.”

“Well he wanted us to see something, so he’s down here somewhere.” Chase shakes his head.

He could have gone into one of the other rooms and closed the door behind him, JJ suggests. But... He suddenly stops signing. His eyes have landed on the nearest bookcase. Frowning, he walks over.

“Jamie?” Schneep asks. “What is it?”

JJ doesn’t answer right away. He crouches down to the ground and reaches into a small gap between the bookcase and the wall behind it. When he stands up again, he’s holding a book in his hand. A thin, old-looking book, with yellowed pages and a cracked leather cover. He stares at it, turning it over in his hands.

“What’s that?” Chase asks.

JJ puts the book on the bookcase’s middle shelf, freeing his hands for sign. It was behind the bookshelf. I don’t know if it fell down there or... if someone put it there deliberately.

“Does it really matter? It’s just some old book.”

JJ frowns. I suppose that’s true. But it’s odd that—

His signing is interrupted by the sound of a door opening. In unison, the four guys turn and stare down the hall. One of the doors has opened. The one next to the room with the fuse box. And Marvin walks right out. “Guys, I’m right here,” he says, sounding a bit impatient.

Jackie throws his hands in the air. “Well how the fuck were we supposed to know that? The door was closed!”

“It was?” Marvin looks back at the door. He laughs a little. “Oh yeah. I guess I closed it. Must be a habit. Sorry, guys. Anyway, you guys need to see this. It’s a bit, uh...” His faint smile fades. “It’s weird.”

“What is it?” Schneep asks.

“Uh... I-I don’t know how to explain it. It’ll be easier if you guys just see it. I mean... you’re right here. You just have to walk down the hallway.”

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #chase brody #jackieboy man #jameson jackson #dr schneeplestein #marvin the magnificent #brigid writes fanfiction #manyroadsdivergejse

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crystalninjaphoenix · 13 days

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Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Four

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

Your path has been altered. Strange how such a small choice can change so much. I love how this is the first 100% vote in either of the two runs dfhjskah Everyone really was like "don't you f*cking dare go by yourself, JJ! Chase, go with him!" I mean, it's understandable, really. When you know the cabin is dangerous, you're going to stick together.

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 16th at 12:00pm PST. Part Four will be up the next day, April 17th, at the same time.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

“Alright, JJ.” Chase sets the controller down and stands up. “I’ll go check on Marvin with you.”

JJ slumps, visibly relieved. Thank you, he says. I know I’m probably being silly, but I can’t shake this feeling that something’s happened.

“No, it’s okay, really,” Chase assures him.

Jackie picks up the controller. “Well while you guys are gone, do you mind if IIIII...?”

“Don’t you touch a button on that,” Chase threatens.

Schneep laughs. “You heard him, Jackie. Put it down.”

“Aw.” Jackie sets the controller down again. “Fine, fine. You guys be back quick with Marvin, okay?”

We will, hopefully, JJ says. Chase, come on.

The two of them walk over to the open basement door and descend the eleven steps of the staircase.They end up in a long hallway. It extends forward for a little while before opening up into a wide open space. On the left side of the hallway are two doors. On the right side are three. The nearest door on the right is slightly ajar, and Chase glances into it, seeing a room full of cardboard boxes with a metal cabinet mounted on the wall. “Oh hey, there’s the fuse box,” he says. “Now where’s Marvin?”

Probably down the hall, JJ says. He starts walking forward. Chase follows.

The wide open space at the end of the hallway is a wide room, lit up by six yellow lights mounted into the ceiling. The middle is clear, but there’s a bunch of old-looking junk around the edges. More boxes, a wooden table with deep scratches in its surface, and above all, bookcases full of dusty books. Marvin sits in a wooden chair that looks like it matches up with the table. (There are four other identical chairs dotted around the room—a dining room set, perhaps?) He’s hunched over a thick book, scanning the first pages so intently he doesn’t realize JJ and Chase have walked into the room.

“Uh... Marvin?” Chase calls.

Marvin looks up. He smiles. “Oh hey! You came down to look for me?”

Of course we did, JJ says. We were worried. We’ve been texting you.

“Really? I didn’t notice.” Marvin shuts the book closed and stands up, leaving the book on the chair. “Two of you? Are Jackie and Schneep coming downstairs too?”

“Nah, they stayed upstairs,” Chase says. “Uh... what were you reading?”

“One of the books down here. They’re so fascinating. I got curious and decided to look around, and I’m so glad I did!” Marvin’s eyes are alight. He hurries over to the others, so quickly that Chase actually takes a step back in surprise. “Here.” Marvin grabs JJ by the hand and pulls him into the wide room. “I can show you.”

“Uh, bro, we were kind of in the middle of something upstairs,” Chase says, stepping forward and grabbing JJ’s other arm to stop Marvin from dragging him off. “If you want to stay down here and read, that’s fine, but we’re kind of busy.”

Marvin’s head snaps over to Chase. For a moment, he looks angry. But the expression only lasts a split second. Chase must have imagined it. “True.” Marvin lets go of JJ’s hand. “You guys were doing something. You can go back to that, don’t worry about me. I’d much rather keep reading. But I probably won’t notice any texts so you might have to come downstairs again if you want to get me.”

JJ shakes his hand, wincing a little. Tight grip, he signs.

“Oh.” Marvin starts a little, looking guilty. “Sorry, I-I didn’t realize.”

It’s okay. What are these books about anyway? Why are you so interested in them?

“Oh, it’s fascinating.” Marvin laughs. “I just said that, didn’t I? Well, it is. What I’ve found has been, uh, very relevant to my interests. I didn’t know Jack’s family was into magic. Or, was, at one point. Clearly they’re not any more.”

Chase blinks. “Huh. Yeah, that’s a bit weird.”

Marvin takes a step closer to him. “Want to see some?”

“No, no, I’m good. We’re good.” Chase has goosebumps on his arms. He’s not sure why, but he doesn’t want to be here anymore. “Come on, JJ. We’ll tell Jackie and Schneep what happened.”

JJ nods slowly, then follows Chase out of the room.

“Come back if you want!” Marvin calls. “I’d love to show you!”

Chase and JJ head straight back to the staircase, not diverting to look at the other rooms. They’re quiet until they start up the steps, at which point JJ stops and looks at Chase. Did that seem... odd, to you? he asks.

“Yeah,” Chase agrees. “I know Marv can be a bit weird sometimes, but that... that wasn’t his normal weird. I think? I don’t know. I-I don’t want to be rude or anything.”

JJ shakes his head. That wasn’t normal. Something about it was just... off.

“Well, what do we do then?”

Let’s talk about it with Jackie and Henrik.

The two of them start walking up the stairs again. When they reach the top and return to the living room, Chase instinctively closes the basement door behind them. Schneep and Jackie are still on the sofa. They look over towards them in unison. “Oh, no Marvin? After all that?” Jackie asks. “What happened?”

“He, uh... found something,” Chase says. He quickly explains the whole encounter they had.

“Hmm.” Schneep frowns. “You are right. Marvin can be intense about his interests, but he does not usually get so intense that he would pull Jamie into the room. Especially by the hand.”

JJ nods. That’s what really bothered me. He knows I don’t like people grabbing my hands, and yet he did it. He sighs. At least he had the presence to apologize for it.

“Okay, so Marvin’s being a bit more intense than usual,” Jackie sums up. “What do we do about that? It’s not like we can drag him upstairs.”

I mean... we COULD, JJ considers.

“He’ll probably be upstairs eventually,” Chase says. “He has to go to sleep after a while, and we all know he’s not the type to fall asleep wherever. We could just wait for him to come up and ask him what the hell was going on when he does.”

“I do not think we should drag him upstairs,” Schneep says. “That seems a bit... intense, ha.”

“Yeah, but Marv was being weird and intense, maybe if we go get him he’ll realize that,” Jackie says.

“So we’re at a tie,” Chase says. “Unless someone changes their mind.”

They all go quiet, each one looking at the others.

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crystalninjaphoenix · 6 months

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Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Finale

A JSE Interactive Fanfic

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You have reached the end of your path. Will you be happy with what you've found?

Thank you to everyone who participated in this event! It was so much fun to do :D I'm hoping on releasing the full, all-possible-branches experience as a work on AO3, but at this point I've only finished one of five possible routes, sooooo it's going to be a LONG while before we reach there XD So I hope you're all happy with the ending you've reached! I am :)

<><><><><><><><><><><>

“Schneep.” Chase keeps his voice quiet, slowly raising his hands in a ‘calm down’ gesture. “Henrik. We know something’s wrong with you. We don’t want to hurt you.”

Schneep laughs. “Then you’re a bit outmatched, aren’t you?” The knife moves a bit closer to Jackie’s throat. “I don’t have any problems hurting you.”

“That’s because—because you’re not Schneep, are you?!” Marvin says accusingly.

The knife stops. Jackie is trying not to breathe. “So one of you isn’t an idiot,” says the voice coming from Schneep’s mouth. “Not that it matters in the long run. I’m going to kill your friend, you know, it doesn’t change anything if you know the truth or not.”

Henrik. JJ looks at Schneep sympathetically. We know you’re in there. Keep fighting.

“You dumb little m—” Schneep stops suddenly, his whole body tensing up. The knife trembles. Jackie tries to lean away from the blade.

JJ nods encouragingly. Yes, that’s you, isn’t it?! Henrik. Henrik. He keeps signing Schneep’s name sign over and over.

“I-I...” Schneep’s eyes squeeze shut, then shoot open again. His chest rises and falls quickly. “Th-there is... something i-inside,” his voice gasps out. “I cannot—cannot keep him—c-cannot fight him...”

“Of course you can,” Chase gives him a small smile.

“It doesn’t have to be for long,” Marvin says gently. “Just let go of Jackie. Put the knife down.”

“I-I cannot...” Schneep’s eyes roll back in his head. “This isn’t going to work, you fucking morons,” the other one hisses. “You can’t get rid of me with a few simple pleas to your psycho friend—” He’s suddenly cut off by a strangled cough.

“Don’t fucking call him that you bastard!” Marvin snarls.

“Don’t listen to him, Schneep!” Chase adds. “It’s your body, you’re stronger than him!”

The other one laughs. And again, it’s cut off by a choked sort of noise. Tears slip out of Schneep’s eyes. “I cannot do this,” he whispers. “I cannot do this.” His fingers are turning white with how hard they grip the knife and Jackie’s hoodie.

You can! JJ signs firmly.

“H-he is so much more than just me...” Schneep’s voice trails off. The lights overhead, alight now that Marvin switched the power back on, flicker for a moment. “Things a-are not—they should not be—I-I hurt Jackie, a-and Jamie—”

JJ shakes his head. It’s not your fault. I forgive you.

“Just for a moment, Schneep,” Chase says quietly. “Just for a moment, then we’ll take care of it.”

Schneep is shaking all over, teeth clenched together, head twitching occasionally. The blade is coming closer to Jackie’s neck, then moving farther again a second later. Nobody dares say anything else. Marvin glances back at Chase and JJ, unsure, but both of them shake their heads. It’ll work. It has to work.

Jackie takes a deep breath. He closes his eyes. “It’s okay, Schneep,” he says quietly. “It’s okay.”

Schneep’s eyes snap towards him, locking onto his face. For a moment, he goes very still. Then, with a scream that fills the tiny room, he flings Jackie across the room, leaving him to crumple against the bed.

Marvin and Chase rush forward. Chase grabs Jackie and pulls him back, and Marvin runs towards Schneep. He grabs him by the arms. “Alright, you motherfucker,” he hisses. “Get out of my friend.”

Schneep twitches, and the other one laughs again. “It doesn’t work like that,” he says in a singsong voice. Then his head jerks forward and smashes into Marvin’s nose. Marvin jerks back instinctively, shouting as blood starts to leak from his nostril. The other one pushes him aside and lunges towards Jackie and Chase. But suddenly JJ jumps forward, moving fast despite his injury, blocking the two of them. Schneep’s body collides with him. A strangled yell comes from JJ’s throat. It scares the others—JJ doesn’t scream. And yet he did. When Schneep pulls away, staggering to his feet, the handle of the knife he was holding sticks out of JJ’s stomach, the blade buried within.

Chase cries out in horror. Marvin rushes to JJ’s side. He hesitates, then presses down on the wound around the knife, trying to help stop the bleeding. “You—y-you just—” he gasps. “Jameson, you didn’t h-have to—”

I did, JJ signs weakly.

Schneep’s body shudders. “No,” he breathes. “N-no, I—Jamie, I-I am so sorry, he is too—” Schneep screams out, grabbing his head. “Go away!” he cries. “Leave me alone!” He stumbles away from the others until his back hits the windowsill—of the open window. He suddenly stiffens. A single eye twitches. “No!” he shrieks. He spins around and—before anyone can do anything about it—grabs the windowsill and pushes himself out.

“Schneep!” Jackie screams.

Chase runs forward and leans out the window. Schneep’s form is visible on the dark ground outside. For a moment, he doesn’t move. And then he stirs. A single arm reaches out.

“He’s moving!” Chase gasps, jerking backwards. “I-I’m going to check it out! Marvin, help JJ and Jackie!”

“On it!” Marvin is already looking at the medical kit they brought in earlier. And with that, Chase spins around and rushes out of the room.

He sprints down the hall, doesn’t slow for the stairs, then bolts across the living room and bursts out the front door. He takes a moment to orient himself, then turns and keeps running across the ground. It’s blind luck that he doesn’t trip on a loose pebble.

Schneep’s body is crumpled under the window. Or, slightly to the side of the window. He’s been crawling slowly away. Chase comes to a stop a few feet away. “...Schneep?” he says.

Schneep’s head snaps up. Chase can already tell by the look on his face that the problem hasn’t been solved. “You... you fucking bastard,” the other one says, baring his teeth. “Damn you. Damn you all! This isn’t fucking over! Even if you break his body, you can’t get rid of me!” He laughs. “You don’t even know anything! You don’t know where you are! Fucking—pieces of shit, I’m sure any of you would’ve been better—fuck you. Fuck you.”

Chase stares down at him. He feels strangely empty looking at this. “It’s going to be okay, Schneep,” he whispers.

“No, it’s fucking not,” the other one hisses.

“Shut up.” Chase bends over and grabs Schneep’s body, wrapping his arms around his torso in an awkward half-carry half-drag. The other one screams and tries to wriggle out of his grasp, but stops abruptly, going almost still. Almost. Chase can feel Schneep shaking. “It’s going to be okay,” he repeats. “It’s going to be okay.”

He ends up leaving Schneep in the first-floor bathroom. It doesn’t have a window, only one door that Chase wedges a chair under. Then he sits on the floor in front of it and stares.

A couple minutes pass. Then Chase hears footsteps coming down the stairs. It’s Marvin. “Hey, Chase,” he says quietly.

Chase swallows a lump in his throat. “How are they?”

“I... did what I could. Jackie’s fine, I-I’m more worried about JJ, but... I’m sure he’ll be fine. The police are coming soon.” Marvin tries for a reassuring smile. “What about... you know?”

“He’s alive,” Chase says. “That was a terrible fall, I bet he has at least two broken bones. But he’s alive. That... thing, though... it’s still there.” He laughs. “What a way to find out ghosts are real.” The laughter dies quickly.

Marvin looks at the bathroom. “You locked him in there?”

“Not sure what else to do.” Chase shrugs. “How are we going to explain this to Jackie? How are we going to explain this to anyone? I-I don’t think people will believe us if we say that a serial killer from the 20s possessed our friend and tried to kill us.”

“Yeah,” Marvin agreed. “I’m wondering why all this was in Jack’s cabin. He better have a good explanation for why he didn’t get rid of any of that shit.” He folded his arms. “Well... I-I’m going to go back upstairs and... sit down. With the others. I’ll try... to tell Jackie everything that happened.”

“Tell them I say hi,” Chase says.

Marvin nods and goes back upstairs. Chase continues to stare at the bathroom door. It’s not long before the banging and shouting begins.

Luckily, it’s also not long before the sounds of sirens fill the forest.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

...The cabin was located in the Scanrúil Forest, an hour and a half away from the nearby town of Asphodel. While two of the party were injured (Jackie Mann, 30, and Jameson Jackson, 30) they are expected to recover. The police have released a statement saying they believe the fifth occupant of the cabin, a Dr. Henrik von Schneeplestein, 31, was the intruder the others had called about. Dr. Schneeplestein was recovered with a broken leg and arm that he claims happened when he fell from one of the cabin’s second-story windows. He has pleaded guilty to the assaults while also denying that he was responsible. This confusion, along with erratic and violent behavior, has led to his admittance to Silver Hills Mental Hospital for a psychological evaluation. The owner of the cabin, Jack McLoughlin, 32, was contacted for a statement. But when the police were unable to reach him, they found entry into his house and found Mr. McLoughlin asleep and unable to be awoken. Doctors at St. Mark’s Hospital have confirmed the man is in a coma, though the cause is unknown. The police say they do not suspect McLoughlin of being personally involved with the attack, but he may have been an accomplice...

Ending Reached: Slasher Survivors - Alter 4

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crystalninjaphoenix · 21 days

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Let the Tests Begin

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

I may have forgotten to queue this. Which sucks because I was really excited for this one? How did I forget? I guess I'm really working on finishing Many Roads Diverge now that I'm getting close to the finish line with that one, haha. Anyway. The guys are still in IRIS. And IRIS thinks it's about time to start their plans with them. JJ is having a particularly bad time with this. And Schneep finds out that there are new tests for him to go through after his escape last time.

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

“Hello again, Dr. Parker.”

Jackie looked up as the door opened. He was sitting on the side of the bed but he quickly scrambled to his feet. It was that same man from before. What was his name? Right, Daniel. There were also two C&C guards with him. “H-hi,” Jackie said in a shaky voice. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he’d last seen these guys. There wasn’t a clock in the room. But he knew that it must be a while, as he’d fallen asleep for a bit and woken up with hunger clawing at his stomach.

“We have decided to move you to a second location,” Daniel said calmly.

“Um... why?” Jackie asked, trying not to sound too combative.

“Well this room isn’t exactly built for comfort, is it?” Daniel says, gesturing around the room. “We have a better one set up for you. If you’ll please come with us.”

Jackie hesitated. Then he nodded slowly. Maybe he could get a lay of the land while they moved him. Find out where the others are, if they’re also here. Because it was clear that IRIS wasn’t planning on telling him anything. “Okay. Um... let’s go.”

The hallway outside looked like a normal hallway in an office building, with white plaster walls and linoleum tile on the floor. It kind of threw Jackie off, honestly. If it wasn’t for the reinforced doors he might have been anywhere nondescript. The two C&C guards stood on either side of him. Jackie waited for them to grab him or something, but they didn’t. And they didn’t move, either. They just stood there in the middle of the hallway. Were they waiting for something?

Apparently they were, as another one of the doors opened up, and a pair of C&C officers appeared, dragging someone out. “—your fucking hands off me!” the person was shouting.

Jackie would know that swearing voice anywhere. “Anti?!” he gasped, rushing towards him. One of the guards grabbed him by the back of the hoodie and yanked him back.

But he’d gotten Anti’s attention, at least. He stopped struggling and looked over at Jackie, eyes wide. “J-Jackie?!”

“Are you okay?” Jackie asked.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine, other than these fuckers bruising my arms up.” Anti struggled slightly, but the two C&C guards refused to let go of him. “Have you seen any of the others?!”

“N-no, but they have to be here, don’t they? If both of us are.”

While the two of them talked, Daniel gestured at the C&C guards, and they started walking down the hallway. Anti growled and started fighting back again. “Let me go! Let me—Jackie, help! We can get out of here together!”

“Wh-what about the others?” Jackie asked.

“We can find them! C’mon!” Anti tried to yank an arm free of the guard’s grip, but they were holding too tight. “Jackie!”

Jackie hesitated. But decided he couldn’t leave Anti behind. He darted forward, trying to pull Anti from the guards’ grasp—but then the other two C&C guards grabbed him from behind and yanked him back. He yelped. “Please, Dr. Parker, I thought you were smarter than that,” Daniel said. “Don’t worry. You’ll be safe and taken care of.”

“Don’t listen to their bullshit, Jackie!” Anti shouted. “Last time I was here these guys locked me in a room and did some shit to my brain!”

“The Dr. Hopkins Assessment is a perfectly safe test,” Daniel said.

Anti glared at him. He growled again, sounding almost feral, and snapped his teeth, trying to bite the C&C guards. Or maybe not actually trying to bite them. Surely Anti was smart enough to realize his teeth couldn’t pierce the C&C uniforms. But the guy he snapped at did flinch. Very slightly, but definitely flinched. So maybe Anti was just trying to intimidate them.

“Anti, please, c-calm down,” Jackie stammered, trying to avoid being dragged by the guards. “W-we need to think—”

“I’m not going to be fucked with again, Jackie!” Anti interrupted, his voice cracking with fear.

Jackie winced. “Th-they’re not going to—Well, I-I guess I don’t know anything about them, do I?” He shook his head and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Anti, listen. I-I know a lot about these guys. I... worked for them.”

“When did you do that?!”

“Shhh!” Jackie glanced at Daniel and the C&C guards. They could probably hear them no matter how quietly they talked. But the whispering gave him an illusion of security that he desperately needed as they were being dragged along. “It’s a long story. I didn’t know they’d taken you, o-or any of the other fucked up shit they do. But I do know stuff about their organization and all that.”

Anti shook his head. “I... I’ll think about those implications later. What can you tell me now?”

Jackie glanced around. “I don’t recognize this area, I think we’re in a different compound than the one I was in. But, uh, with how normal it looks we’re probably on the surface level. Maybe on a higher floor, if there are multiple floors here. M-Marvin might be here, too, but from how they talked about Schneep and JJ, they’re probably keeping them somewhere more secure.”

The C&C took them around a corner. This hallway looked the same as all the others. “So what, you think we should try to find them first?” Anti asked. “I don’t think we’ll get a chance to, to be honest!” He pulled against the guards. “They’re gonna lock us up, Jackie! We might not get another opportunity! W-we can go find the others now!”

“Please remain calm, Mr. McLoughlin,” Daniel said. “We’d hate to resort to force.”

“Oh, would you?” Anti snarled. “Jackie! Come on!”

Jackie’s mind whirled. He wanted to protest, to take this slow, but Anti was right. He didn’t know if they’d have another opportunity. He glanced down at his hand, and Anti followed his gaze. Jackie held out three fingers. Two. One—

Jackie shouted out, causing the guards to look at him in surprise. At once, the two of them pushed against the guards, struggling in unison. Anti managed to get an arm free. He tried to punch one of the guards, but they barely flinched. And Jackie didn’t even get free at all. Daniel turned back to look at the scuffle, frowning, looking almost disappointed. “Very well, then.”

One of the guards hit Anti in the side of the head. He gasped and went suddenly limp. Jackie cried out in surprise, but another guard hit him in the same place, pain bursting across his temple. He slumped, and the C&C guards dragged the both of them down the hall to a pair of doors across from each other. Daniel took out a keycard and pressed it to a reader next to each door, and the guards dragged Anti and Jackie to each one.

“N-no!” Anti shouted, flailing weakly. “Jackie! Jackie!”

“W-we’re going to get out of this!” Jackie said, trying to plant his feet on the ground and push back against the guards trying to get him into the room. “I promise!”

Then the guards overpowered him and pushed him into the room. Jackie stumbled back, landing flat on his back. He looked up to see the door already slamming shut, locking him in this new room.

Jackie got to his feet slowly and looked around. This really didn’t look too different than the room he was in before. The walls were light blue instead of the weird half-blue, half-blank-concrete they’d been in the last room. There was an alcove in the corner with a curtain hanging from the ceiling, pushed to the side to show a toilet and sink. The bed and table were bolted to the floor, and there were more blankets and an extra pillow on the bed. Other than that, it was pretty much the same, with two chairs for the table and a camera dangling from the corner of the ceiling.

But even these small differences spelled a different picture. This place was clearly more built for long-term living than the room where he’d been before. So... they really did intend to keep them here for the foreseeable future. Jackie’s throat was suddenly dry with nerves. He’d assumed that was the situation. But it was different to have that guess silently confirmed.

Jackie wandered over to the table and sat down. There was a paper plate and cup on the table. The plate had a sandwich and the cup had water. Jackie hesitated for a moment, but he was too hungry to resist. He ate and drank, quickly devouring it.

The next room over, Marvin sat up in bed, listening intently. Those shouts... were they who he thought they were? The others were here too? Or—Jackie and Marvin, at least? He’d guessed so, but—that really was them? He felt a bit hopeful, hearing them nearby. Even though that meant they were trapped here too. At least he wasn’t alone.

———————

Jameson had no idea how long he’d been in this room. It felt like forever. He’d spent all of it stuck in his own head, thoughts swirling around all the terrible things that IRIS could do to him. He sometimes had trouble with this anxiety spiral. But his usual ways of snapping out of it couldn’t work while he was stuck in this room. He couldn’t distract himself with anything, and he couldn’t reach out to any of his friends to talk about it. He tried going to sleep but that didn’t help, either. Even when he closed his eyes and tried to take deep breaths, the thoughts wouldn’t go away.

Would they experiment on him? They would, wouldn’t they? IRIS didn’t know about magicians. They would want to figure out how his powers worked. What if they tried to take his magic? That was a part of him! Though he knew he would be able to live a happy life without special powers, he wouldn’t be himself anymore. He would never be able to forget the loss of it.

At some point while he was trying to sleep, there was a strange hissing noise, sounding somewhat pneumatic, and then a thump. JJ raised his head and saw a part of the wall had slid open. Inside was an alcove with a tray on it. He sat up and walked over. Luckily this alcove was within reach of the cuff tethering him to the floor. He picked up the tray. This was... food. A square sandwich with some cheese and unknown meat inside, a handful of apple slices, And a small cup with water in it... or, he assumed it was water. There was some sort of powder mixed in that made it kind of cloudy.

There was writing on the tray beneath the food. ‘Please put the tray back in the compartment when you are done. You will not get another meal until the tray and cup are returned.’

JJ glanced at the camera. They would know if he tried anything, wouldn’t they? The only place that was free of their view was the alcove with the toilet and sink. But... that probably wasn’t a good place to eat. He sat down on the edge of the bed and ate slowly. He still wasn’t sure what meat the sandwich had. Its taste wasn’t familiar. Maybe it was something processed. The powder in the water gave it a vaguely fruity taste, in a weak, artificial way. The apple’s taste was also weak and watery. But he ate it all anyway. He’d probably need the energy. Then he put the tray and cup back in the alcove. The wall slid closed again silently, and then there was another hiss.

After a while, Jameson started to regret the food. His stomach was flipping over and over with his nerves, and the food didn’t help. Especially once he started worrying about what was in it. Didn’t Schneep say that they drugged him with food while he was here? Would Jameson notice if something was off? Was he feeling tired because he’d been awake for a while or because they really did put something in the food?! He should stay awake, just in case.

Despite his efforts to stay awake, he did doze for a bit, drifting in and out of consciousness for what must have been only minutes at a time.

Until he heard the door to the cell open, and then he immediately snapped to full wakefulness. He sat up, staring as that woman in the white coat walked in, along with two more C&C guards. One of them carried some sort of box in one hand, the size of a car battery, holding it by a handle. Jameson swallowed the lump in his throat. He pulled his knees close to his chest, curling up slightly.

The woman—the doctor—said nothing at first. She gestured at the two guards, and they continued walking forward until they reached Jameson. “Hold out your hands,” the doctor said.

Jameson hesitated. Then he slowly did so, assuming that they were going to handcuff him or something. He was correct. The guard with the box flipped open the side, pulling out a pair of plastic cuffs made out of the same material as the ankle cuff. They snapped them around Jameson’s wrists and he winced slightly as they dug into his skin. As the other guard unlocked the manacle around his ankle, JJ stared at the box. There was a plastic tether connecting the cuffs to the interior of it. Was his comparison of it to a car battery more correct than he thought? Was that box a power source for these cuffs? A power source for what?

Out of curiosity, JJ tried to conjure up some magic after the tether around his ankle was gone. Just some lights.The pain was instant—racing up his wrists from the cuffs. He gasped in pain and instinctively jerked back, trying to pull away. But of course, he couldn’t.

“Please don’t try anything, subject,” the doctor said, noticing his reaction. “Your anomalous abilities will not work. Now if you would stand up and follow me.”

Jameson took a shaking breath and stood. The two C&C guards started walking away, forcing him to follow or get dragged along by the cuff tether. He hurried after them and the doctor as they walked out the metal cell door and into the hallway.

The hallway had white walls and a concrete floor. To the left, it was lined with more metal doors. To the right, it extended for a short distance and then ended in a pair of double-doors with small circular windows in the upper half. The doctor and guards led him that way, pushing through the doors and into the room beyond.

This was an octagonal room, its white walls lined with metal tables and cabinets. Four tables took up the center, a two-by-two formation... no, they weren’t tables. They were... beds. Gurneys? Something like that. With attached leather straps.

Jameson stopped walking. He knew what this was. The panic that filled his chest at the sight of it froze him in place. Even as the guards continued walking forward, trying to pull him along, his legs wouldn’t move. They were locked to the floor. One of the guards sighed—the first sign of humanity that he’d seen from any of these guys—and doubled back, grabbing his arm and pulling him forward, dragging him over to one of the beds.

He should probably try to fight it, shouldn’t he? But he couldn’t. It was all he could do to keep breathing. Tears caused his vision to blur. Gruesome sights kept popping into his mind against his will. The guards pushed him onto the bed, pulling leather straps over his chest and legs. A sob escaped his throat. They pushed his still-bound hands towards his chest, bending his elbows, and strapped those down there as well.

The doctor from before was speaking. It took Jameson a moment to push through his panic to listen to what she was saying. “—first examination, and we are also testing to see if something can externally trigger the anomalous properties.”

Examination? So—not an operation, then? Is that what that means?

He lifted his head slightly, turning to look at her. Huh. There were other doctors in the room, too. How had he not noticed them sooner? He must have been freaking out too much. They were all milling about, many of them holding clipboards or tablets—taking notes, perhaps? He stared at the tables surrounding the edge of the room. They were empty. Or at least, all the ones that he could see were, as he turned his head back and forth. If this was an operation, then they would need tools, right? If they didn’t have them, then it wasn’t an operation, was it? He hoped he was right in that assumption. He really, really hoped he was right.

One of the doctors wheeled something over to the bed where Jameson was lying. Some sort of tall instrument, shaped like an upside-down L. There was a square light at the end of the top arm, and a computer attached to the back, complete with keyboard. The doctor typed something on it, and the instrument whirled to life, some sort of engine running. Jameson jolted in surprise—oh god please don’t let that be some sort of scifi vivisection machine—and started trembling in the restraints. The doctor slowly moved the instrument along the side of the bed. The square light turned off, then on again, sending a wave of blue light downwards. Oh. It was some sort of scanner. Jameson relaxed slightly. But not entirely.

The machine scanned him, starting at his feet and moving upwards. Jameson didn’t feel anything, but it was still very unnerving. Especially with all the doctors around staring at him as this happened. Occasionally writing something down. He tried not to look at them, but it was hard to forget they were there.

Once the scan was finished, the doctor pulled the scanner away, typing more on the computer. “Dr. Day? How does this look?”

The doctor who’d gotten Jameson from his cell walked over. Ah, so her name was Dr. Day, then? Good to know, Jameson supposed. Dr. Day stared at the computer screen. She frowned. “The quality seems to have dropped. Do another scan. Subject, please stay as still as possible while the scanner does its work.”

Again? Jameson swallowed a lump in his throat and stared blankly up at the ceiling, focusing on not moving at all. It was better than thinking about the doctors watching. But even so, his thoughts never strayed too far from them.

Dr. Day deemed the second scan good enough. She gestured for the other doctors to join her, and they all clustered around the computer on the scanner. “As you can see, the subject is healthy except for a slight iron deficiency, likely caused by a lack of meat in the diet, and the obvious throat damage. What can we tell by the scarring pattern on the neck?”

“It looks like an animal attack, one with claws,” another doctor said.

“There would be other scarring on the body if it was an animal attack, right?” A second one countered. “Animals don’t target specific areas of the body.”

“Actually, the patterns look a bit like... human scratches?” A third said. “Look, four fingers and a thumb. It matches up.”

“So it was an anomaly,” the first one said decisively. “Humans don’t have nails that sharp.”

Jameson felt more tears threatening the corners of his eyes. He squeezed them closed, trying to push them back. The way they were talking about him, like he wasn’t even here... like he wasn’t even human... He was feeling sick again.

“This is likely caused by ALTR 53815-A,” the doctor said. “A peripheral anomaly of ALTR 53815. How many of you have dealt with peripherals?” There was a moment of silence. Jameson didn’t open his eyes, but he guessed some of the doctors were silently responding. “Good. Those of you who haven’t, refer to the handbook. This subject’s anomalous properties are likely unrelated to 53815. They do not seem to be coming from a specific location in his body, but rather all over. We are unsure if he is yet worthy of ALTR status. That is what we will determine over the course of these examinations. But first, we must establish parameters. Dr. Patel, if you please.”

Jameson heard the sound of people moving around. But he didn’t open his eyes until he felt something clamp down onto his upper arm. Then his eyes flew open and he stared down at it. Some sort of metal cuff, attached via wire to a square cylinder on wheels with lots of lights and another attached computer. Another doctor was typing away on it. And then stopped. The cylinder started whirring, like there was a fan inside.

They were all staring at him. Waiting.

Jameson looked away, staring back up at the ceiling. He also waited for something to happen. But he couldn’t feel anything. Just the metal clamp pressing down on his arm, the discomfort shifting to hurt the longer it stayed on there.

“Increase the signal,” Dr. Day said. Jameson heard more typing sounds, and the whirring from the cylinder grew louder. Still nothing happened. “Increase again.” More typing, more whirring. Still nothing.

“Dr. Day, are you sure we will see a reaction?” another doctor asked.

“Yes, the mufflers will flare in response if the anomalous properties manifest,” Dr. Day said.

The mufflers? Was that what the cuffs were called?

“Either this signal or this location does not work to trigger the properties,” Dr. Day continued. “Dr. Patel, switch to square signals. We will test this location with all signals and then switch.”

How long was this going to take? How long was he going to be stuck here, with all of these people staring at him, helpless to do anything about it?

He took a deep breath, and tried to remain calm. Tried to distance himself from this whole situation. But that was difficult to do when he could still hear them, when he could still feel the restraints digging into his skin, when his thoughts kept circling, fueled by fear.

———————

Schneep had found that the best way to pass the time while stuck in his cell was to exercise. It kept his mind distracted and his body fit, just in case an opportunity came to escape. Though that might be harder than it was last time, now that he had to take that disabling signal into account... But he tried not to think about that.

He was in the middle of doing sit-ups when the door opened again. The handler walked in, along with four guards. Twice as many as last time, this must be important. “Hello, 1-019,” the handler said.

Schneep quickly got to his feet, hackles raised. He glanced back and forth between the guards and the doorway. “...what? What is it?”

“We need you to come with us,” the handler said.

A moment passed. Schneep narrowed his eyes. “What? You are going to let me walk with you? No injections? Nothing in the food?”

“Don’t sound so negative, 1-019.”

“‘Don’t sound so negative’?! About you fucking drugging me?!”

“All of us are equipped with disabling signals, 1-019, it is in your best interest to cooperate,” the handler said firmly.

Schneep gritted his teeth but said nothing.

“Thank you.” The handler smiled. “Now, let’s go.” Two of the guards stepped forward and grabbed Schneep by each arm. He tensed, but didn’t try to escape. Another guard unlocked the cuff around his ankle. He fought the urge to break into a run. Instead, he walked along, keeping pace with the guards as they took him out of the cell.

The hallway had white walls and a concrete floor. It was lined with metal doors—and given how the door to his own cell was metal, he was willing to bet these led to more of the same. He hoped that most of them were empty. They dragged him down the hallway and around a corner to the end towards an elevator. One short ride later, they were on a different floor, a hallway with walls, floor, and ceiling made of shining metal. There weren’t many features here. The guards and handler headed straight to a set of double-doors. They slid open when they approached, leading into a small room—an airlock of sorts, with another pair of double-doors on the other side. Here, the guards left him, turning around and leaving back through the doors they came. As soon as they were gone, the other set of doors opened up.

“Subject 1-019, please walk forward into the room,” A voice said from inside the room. An intercom, probably, judging by the echoing, slightly tinny effect.

Schneep hesitated, then walked forward.

The room beyond was wide and open, made of the same shining metal as the hallways except for one glass wall. Well, it probably wasn’t actually glass. Maybe some sort of shatterproof clear plastic. Through it, Schneep could see the handler and a couple other people in white coats. Scientists. Doctors of some kind. Schneep glared at them, and they stared right back, holding clipboards. There was a camera in each corner of the room, and the floor had a strange grid-like pattern.Like it was made of huge metal tiles.

“Welcome, 1-019,” said the handler’s voice—definitely an intercom of some kind.

“What is this?” Schneep demanded, walking over to the window. “This is no operation!”

“Don’t worry, 1-019, there will be no more operations,” the handler said. “You are complete—or close enough. There actually may be more modifications later, depending on how well you do.” Schneep hoped his fear wasn’t visible on his face. “We are here to test your capabilities.”

“Capabilities?” Schneep repeated.

One of the grid squares on the floor slid open, and something rose up from a compartment underneath it. Schneep backed away, staring at it in shock. What was that? Some sort of robot? It had a vaguely humanoid figure, made of white plastic and metal rings at every joint. But its head was a bulky cube shape, with a single camera in the middle, and its hands were replaced by metal spheres bigger than a fist. Schneep glanced back at the window. The handler seemed to be saying something, but the intercom wasn’t on, so Schneep had no idea what it was. Until the handler leaned forward and pressed a button on a console beneath the window. “Alright, 1-019, go.”

“Go? Go do wha—” Schneep’s question was cut off when the robot sprang into action, running towards him and swinging its sphere-hand at him. He yelped and dodged to the side, feeling the air whiff past him from the force of the blow. The robot swung its other sphere-hand and Schneep ducked. It swung the first one again and Schneep bolted, running across the large room. The robot bolted after him. It wasn’t that much faster than the average person, but it moved at that same pace, not slowing or speeding like a human would. Schneep glanced back at it and started circling around as the wall got closer. The robot copied him exactly, following his every footstep.

“1-019, please take out the enemy bot,” the handler said through the intercom.

“You want me to destroy a fucking robot?!” Schneep shouted as he ran.

“These are specially designed. Their bodies almost perfectly simulate human qualities. Besides the obvious modifications to the head and—”

“Fine!” Schneep snapped. He abruptly stopped running, turning back to face the robot. It was fine. It was fine. This was just like fighting criminal thugs on the streets. Just—a bit more difficult. The robot continued at him at that same pace. Schneep braced himself, then ducked and lunged at its legs. He expected the impact to hurt, but it wasn’t too bad. The bot clattered to the ground beneath his tackle, and he grabbed onto its waist. There was a slight gap between the metal rings forming its waist joints and its plastic casing. Schneep pressed his hands there and sent a pulse of electricity through them. The robot juddered and slumped. One of its sphere-fists landed on Schneep’s back with surprising weight. He’d probably have a bruise there later.

“Thank you, 1-019,” the handler said through the intercom. “Next test. Please continue to take out the enemy bots.”

Schneep disentangled himself from the deactivated bot and stood up. Just in time to see another grid square slide open and more robots rise from beneath the floor. Three of them this time, almost identical to the first. Except for the feet, which were replaced by wheels. All three of them rushed towards Schneep, one heading straight for him while the other two curved to either side. Schneep’s eyes widened and he turned and ran, just in time to avoid the pincer maneuver the robots were trying to create. The three of them turned sharply and headed after them. Shit! They were faster than the first one!

His mind raced as he ran. They outnumbered him this time, so he had to be smart. He circled back around to the body of the deactivated bot and lifted it up, throwing it at the three bots as they got close. It crashed against two of them, knocking them to the ground. The remaining one managed to dodge and kept rushing at him. Schneep leapt out of the way at the last minute, grabbing the robot’s shoulder as it ran past. He yelped as it started dragging him along, then gritted his teeth and threw his other arm around its torso. Then he sent more electricity into it. The robot kept rolling for a moment even after it slumped forward, and he stumbled a bit as he let go. He spun around back to the other two he’d thrown the robot at—and laughed. Even though they’d managed to push away the robot body pinning them down, they couldn’t get up again! Their wheel feet kept skidding across the ground.

“A bit of a design flaw, yes?” Schneep said, looking at the window. “Now what is this all for? Why are you testing me? Why did you—wh-why did you—”

Another grid square slid open, and three more robots rose from the ground. And other grid squares rose up as well, turning into seven-feet tall pillars and three-feet tall blocks. Obstacles. “Please continue to the next test, 1-019,” the handler said. These robots were slightly different. One was bigger and had its cube-like head replaced by a sideways pyramid, the point at the front glowing blue. The other two had different hands. One’s sphere-fists were glowing orange, and the other had long bars on chains for hands—like nunchucks in ninja movies. As the two smaller bots ran towards him on wheels for feet, the big one fired a beam of blue energy from its head.

Schneep tried to back up, but he wasn’t fast enough. The beam hit him in the stomach and knocked him to the ground. “Oof!” It felt like someone threw a super-speed baseball at him. He sat up, and saw the robot with glowing spheres driving its sphere-fist towards him. He yelped and rolled to the side. The glowing sphere hit the ground right next to him. He could feel slight heat coming from it. “Are you all crazy?!” Schneep shouted. He grabbed onto that robot’s legs, trying to pulse with electricity—

The other robot swung its nunchucks at him, hitting him twice: once on his shoulder blade, once on his lower back. Schneep gasped in pain and scrambled to his feet, running before he was fully up and barely managing to dodge more blows from both the bots. Then the big robot’s pyramid started to glow, and Schneep quickly ducked behind a tall pillar to avoid the beam that followed. “Hey!” He shouted at the window. “What is this all about?! Why are you doing this?! I-I deserve answers after all this!”

The handler and other doctors didn’t respond.

The two smaller bots rushed around either side of the pillar and Schneep leapt forward—surprising himself with his ability—and ran across the room to another pillar. “You all better explain!” he yelled at the window. “Or—o-or I’ll—” His mind scrambled for a plausible threat. These guys didn’t seem to care about anything! Anything... except for results. “Or I will sabotage this test! I swear to god!”

He noticed a couple of the doctors glancing at each other uneasily. Aha! So he landed on something that could work.

The robots circled around again, forcing him to keep running. “You want me to fight these things?!” Schneep shouted as he ran. “Well I will not! Not until you tell me why you’ve done all this!”

“1-019, I will remind you that we have disabling signals at the ready,” the handler said.

Schneep laughed, making a sharp turn to avoid another beam. “So?! That will not help your test, will it?! If I am lying on the ground?!”

There was no answer.

Schneep tried to dodge another beam, but this one hit him square in the side, knocking him to the ground. The other two robots quickly caught up, one on either side of him. The one with the glowing spheres hit his chest as he tried to get up, knocking the breath out of him. The other one swung its nunchucks over and over, and Schneep curled up to protect his head as he tried to crawl away. Another heavy, heated blow hit his back. He cried out and went limp from the shock of it. One of the nunchucks swung around and hit him in the side of the head hard enough to fill his vision with stars—

“Command D-SH-6!” the handler suddenly shouted over the intercom.

The two robots slumped—but didn’t shut down like they did when he pulsed the earlier ones. They instead backed up, giving him space to breathe. He climbed to his hands and knees, blinking back tears in his eyes.

“Very well, 1-019,” the handler said, his voice shaking slightly. “What was it you wanted to know? The purpose of these tests?”

Schneep pushed himself to his knees and stared at the window, where some of the doctors looked pale and worried, others were glaring in anger, and still others were keeping their expressions carefully neutral. “The purpose of all of it!” he insisted, pushing through the pain. “The operations! The implants! A-and why—why me, of all people?! Because I was in the wrong place?!”

A moment passed. The doctors seemed to be discussing something. Then the handler activated the intercom again. “The EX Subject Initiative is designed to create new, specialized operatives to help contain anomalies that prove difficult to deal with. Much like ALTR 53815.”

Schneep blinked. He stared at the window, silently asking the doctors to continue.

“Ideally, EX Subjects are taken from those who have had contact with ALTRs but have not been targeted—or at least, not intensely.”

Schneep laughed. “Wh-what are you saying? Distorter has wanted me dead for ages.”

“Your exposure to 53815-A is relatively light, especially in comparison to others from Mirygale,” the handler continued. “But your experience is personal. And you are also clearly capable, given your track record of vigilantism. You walking into our Operation Center in Henshilling was a fortunate coincidence. You were really the perfect EX Subject.”

Disgust curled around Schneep’s stomach, twisting his face.

“If you proceed through the various tests and training in the EX Initiative, you will be transferred to a new division of C&C, whose purpose is to contain ALTRs. To protect people who are being victimized by them. Hurt and killed and worse. Do you understand?”

“Oh yes, I understand quite a lot,” Schneep said quietly. “Quite a lot.” They wanted weapons. Living weapons. And they were willing to do terrible things to get them. They could say whatever they wanted about protecting people from anomalies, but that didn’t change what they were doing. Not at all.

“Great. We will proceed with the test, then.”

Schneep’s thoughts snapped out of their dark spiral and he instantly started moving again, dodging more attacks from the robots. His eyes scanned the room. There! He darted over to one of the blocks, leaping on top of it. Then he spun around, facing the two robots as they charged at him. He threw himself onto the one with nunchucks as soon as it got close enough, pulsing immediately. Its body jittered and then slumped. He ducked a blow from the other one, getting low to the ground and grabbing its leg. He pulsed again. And that one toppled over on top of him. It knocked the breath out of him for a moment, but he quickly pushed it off.

A beam of blue light flew past his face. Schneep grabbed the robot body again, raising it up in front of him. He staggered to his feet, trying to use it as a shield. It dulled the force of the beam a bit, but he still stumbled backwards. Still, he walked forward, ducking behind pillars occasionally. Despite the robot body supposedly “almost perfectly simulating human qualities,” it was still quite heavy. By the time he got close to the last robot, his arms were trembling slightly. He threw the deactivated bot at the big one, knocking it over. But it was still able to aim its beam at him. He dodged its attack, then rushed forward and grabbed its arm, giving it a higher voltage than the others. It smoked slightly and became limp.

Breathing heavily, Schneep stood up straight. Well... he seemed to be good at this. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.

“Thank you, 1-019. Please continue on to the next test.”

Schneep spun around as more robots appeared.

Bad. It was a bad thing.

But at least the fight would help distract him from these new revelations.

He took a deep breath and charged forward.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #jackieboy man #dr jackie parker #antisepticeye #programmer anti #marvin the magnificent #1920s marvin #jameson jackson #the jaunty jackson #dr schneeplestein #von voltage #brigid writes fanfiction #septicswitchau

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crystalninjaphoenix · 1 day

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Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Finale

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You have reached the end of your path. Will you be happy with what you’ve found?

Thank you to everyone who participated in this event! It was amazing to see everyone still chip in to a second run of this fic. And if you guys are wondering, yes, the full thing is currently up on AO3! Whoo! I'll include a link at the bottom of this part beneath a Keep Reading, but basically, the name is "Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - An Interactive Story" and my username is CrystalNinjaPhoenix! So basically the same as here XD There are about 300k worth of more routes to explore! I'd love to see you all there ^-^

<><><><><><><><><><><>

“Wait a minute.” Chase’s eyes go wide. “JJ, you didn’t just get blood all over your hands. You got it on your sleeves, too. Your white sleeves.” He tugs on one of JJ’s cuffs. “Even if you wiped your hands off, there should still be a stain!”

“Wait, wait!” Schneep grabs JJ’s other arm, and JJ promptly yanks both his hands free. “Gah! Sorry, Jamie, I was just checking to see. You are right, Chase. There is no sign that there was ever any blood.”

“And... why does this matter?” Jackie asks, frowning. “I-I know it’s weird, but... what does it mean?”

The others are silent for a moment. Then JJ raises his hands to speak. Maybe... maybe I was right. Maybe Marvin isn’t dead.

“But—but we all saw that, right?” Chase says. He shudders just remembering the sight—the sounds—all of it. “He definitely slit his own throat.”

“And JJ definitely got his hands and sleeves covered in that blood,” Schneep says. “And yet...” He trails off, looking thoughtful. “What if... what if it was not real?”

“How the hell would it be ‘not real’?” Jackie demands. “There was no pulse!”

“I know! But if we are dealing with the supernatural, we have to account for perhaps—perhaps some sort of elaborate trick,” Schneep says. “Some sort of magical illusion that could also feel real as well as look real.”

“I-I guess it’s possible,” Chase says. “Meaning... Marvin isn’t dead? But then... Look, he’s the only one of us who would be able to make a magic illusion. And why would he do that?”

Unless it wasn’t him. JJ taps the book Chase is still holding open. Specifically, the illustration.

“You mean—you mean some sort of spirit possessed him?” Jackie asks in a hushed voice.

“In that case... where is it now?” Schneep wonders.

JJ suddenly stiffens. He turns and runs back down the hallway.

“JJ! Hey!” Chase drops the book as he tries to reach out and grab JJ, but he’s moving too fast and his grip just barely closes on empty air instead of JJ’s arm. So instead he runs after him, leaving Schneep to pick up the book again. “Where are you going?!”

He was going to the room with the ritual circle. Chase catches up with him as he hesitates outside the open door. JJ glances at him—and at Schneep and Jackie, who are running down the hallway after them. Once everyone is there, he reaches into the dark room and turns on the lights.

A figure is crouched in the center of the ritual circle, one hand pressed against the burned lines making it up. Somehow, the four wooden chairs from the other room are in here now, spaced evenly around the edge of the circle. A rope is coiled on the seat of one. The figure looks up. It’s Marvin. It’s definitely him. But his eyes... They’re all black, no whites or irises to be seen. A smile stretches across Marvin’s face. It is not his smile. “So... you figured it out?” he asks. Or, rather, the creature using his body asks. “No matter.” It raises Marvin’s other hand, and—

Suddenly, Chase feels something push against him, shoving him forwards into the room. He cries out as he falls to the floor—and then again as Jackie falls on top of them. All four of them had been pushed forward by some mysterious force and are now in the room, lying on the floor. And behind them, the door slams shut. “Y-you!” Jackie gasps, standing up first. “What are you?!”

“So much more than you. That’s all you need to know.” The creature gets to its feet in one smooth motion. “Now. Are you our first volunteer?” That smile stretches Marvin’s face again—and suddenly there is a knife in his hands, a thin silver dagger, and he rushes towards Jackie.

Jackie cries out and dodges to the side. The creature starts to lunge for him again—but Chase, thinking fast, reaches out and grabs Marvin’s ankle, now nearby. The creature gasps in surprise and stumbles, almost falling but catching itself against the wall. “Guys?! What do we do?!” Chase asks.

JJ gets to his knees. He points at Schneep—no, he points at the book that Schneep is still holding. Schneep looks at him. Read! JJ says.

“O-okay.” Schneep nods. “You all keep him distracted!” He opens the book up to the marked page and starts scanning it.

“What is that?” the creature asks in Marvin’s voice. Is that surprise in its words? “Where did you get that?!” Marvin’s body spins around and runs for Schneep—but Chase launches himself from the ground and right towards Marvin, knocking him back. The creature screams in frustration. There’s a flash of silver—but then Jackie grabs Marvin’s arm right before he’s able to plunge the dagger into Chase’s back.

“I-I just have to read what’s written out loud,” Schneep stammers. “I-if we—if we do it right his body will seize, r-remember not to hold him when that happens.”

“You motherfucker!” The creature growls. With one arm being held by Jackie, it moves Marvin’s other hand, wrapping it around Chase’s throat and squeezing. JJ gasps and hurries over, prying his fingers free. Chase gasps as his airflow resumes.

“Do it, Schneep!” Jackie shouts.

Schneep nods. He looks down at the page, hesitating, and starts reciting the words. “Sp—spiorad gan i-iarraidh, a... ordú againn... duit im-imeacht.” He goes slowly, unsure how to pronounce the words.

“No!” The creature shouts. Suddenly, Jackie, JJ, and Chase are all thrown away. Marvin’s body scrambles upwards again and he lunges towards Schneep again, But, yelling in rage, Jackie gets to his feet and tackles Marvin to the ground. The dagger falls from Marvin’s hand and skitters across the ground. JJ quickly scoops it up again. The creature notices this and growls. “Do you think I need that to kill you?!” it threatens.

JJ nods. He looks at Chase and points towards Marvin and Jackie. The two of them are struggling on the ground as Jackie tries to keep Marvin’s body pinned. Normally Jackie would have been easily stronger than Marvin, but the creature is fighting with all of Marvin’s strength, not caring if it hurts Jackie or Marvin in the process. Chase nods back to JJ and hurries over, arriving just in time to stop Marvin from punching Jackie in the face. The creature screams wordlessly and thrashes against Chase and Jackie’s grip.

Suddenly, the lights go out, plunging the room into total darkness. Schneep’s voice, slowly chanting the words, falters. Then JJ pulls out his phone and turns on the flashlight feature, shining it towards Schneep, who continues.

The creature growls and flings Marvin’s hand out. The book jerks forward, like someone is trying to pull it from Schneep’s grip, but he holds it steady—though he glances at the others with a panicked expression.

JJ glances back at the struggle. Marvin, he signs, causing the light to waver, but not enough to deter Schneep. Fight.

“H-he’s right!” Chase gasps. “Marvin, you have to be in there somewhere! You have to fight this!”

“Fuck off!” the creature snaps.

“Ní l-leatsa an corp a... ghlacadh,” Schneep continues. “Ní leatsa an ai-aigne a... úsáid. Ní leatsa an t-anam a... a-adh-adhlacadh.” He still stutters a bit, but it’s clearly not affecting the spell.

Jackie grabs Marvin’s hand and pulls it back. “If you can hear us, Marv,” he says, “we need your help! C-can you hold it back? Please! Try, at least!”

“You don’t have to do it forever!” Chase adds. “Just long enough for Schneep to finish!”

Marvin’s body shudders. The creature starts to snarl something—and then abruptly stops. The black in his eyes flicker back to normal for a moment. “T-try...” Marvin whispers. His limbs jerk, but overall he stops fighting. Jackie still holds him, though, arms wrapped tight around Marvin’s torso. Chase watches, tense, waiting.

And then, suddenly, Marvin’s muscles tense again. He screams, head throwing itself backwards and arms and legs starting to shake. “I-it’s the seizing!” Chase gasps. “Like Schneep said! Let go of him!”

Jackie abruptly does so, scooting backwards across the ground. He watches Marvin with wide eyes. As do Chase and JJ. They all stay where they are, looking and feeling helpless as Marvin convulses and screams on the floor. “W-we have to do something,” Jackie says desperately.

“Maybe we can hold his head still.” Chase reaches out—

“No! Th-that’s gotta be as bad as holding him!”

“I don’t want him to hit his head, though!”

Jackie hesitates. “I got it!” He takes his jacket off, bunching it up and placing it under Marvin’s head. “B-better than nothing.”

Schneep glances at this and nods approvingly as he continues to chant. He’s getting a hold of the words. Soon his voice rises, more confident. “Díbrím thú! Fág an corp, aigne agus anam seo. Díbrím thú! Téigh go dtí an domhan eile atá ag fanacht leat. Díbrím thú!”

All at once, Marvin goes still. His screams end abruptly, but his mouth stays open as a thick black smoke pours out. It rises into the air, and there is the shape of a person in the cloud, a writhing mess of limbs struggling to reach back in. Glowing green eyes appear, glaring at the others with unmistakable malice... and then they wink out as the smoke disperses. Marvin goes limp against the floor. The lights turn on again.

CRACK!

All of them jump in surprise at the sound—and look down at its source. The wooden floor has splintered, a large divide going across the ritual circle burned into the ground. A red liquid pools in the new crack and spills out over the floor.

But they have more to be concerned with. JJ drops his phone and rushes to Marvin’s side, falling to his knees next to him. He grabs him by the shoulder and starts to shake. Schneep runs over as well, and Jackie and Chase crowd around Marvin in turn. “Marvin?!” Chase says. “Marvin! A-are you okay?!”

Marvin groans and opens his eyes. They are back to normal again. “All of you... get... the fuck away from me.”

They all abruptly jerk backwards. JJ laughs, a sound of relief. “Well sorry for being concerned,” Jackie says, sounding irritated but smiling nonetheless.

“No, he is right, he needs his space,” Schneep says, gently pushing the others back. There are tears in his eyes. “Marvin, I-I... I am so glad you are okay.”

“Yeah...” Marvin breathes. “You.. y-you did great, Schneep. Mispronounced a few things, but I don’t blame you. And it worked. Th-thank you.”

How do you feel? JJ asks.

“...tired,” Marvin mumbles. “That sort of tired where it’s on the edge of everything hurting.”

“Are you okay to move?” Jackie asks. “I... don’t really want to be in a room where the floor is bleeding.”

“Th’what?” Marvin turns his head to the side, seeing the red liquid bleeding across the floor. He frowns. “I think... I think that means whatever spell it’s about is... broken? Whatever. Blood isn’t good. I dunno if I can move, but... if you guys wanna get out of here... I can try.”

Jackie shakes his head. “No, don’t make yourself. Uh, I can carry you, if you want?”

“That’s fine.”

“Okay.” Jackie stands up, taking Marvin with him. The other three stand up too and follow them out of the room.

Are you really okay, Marvin? JJ asks. That must have been terrible.

“I-it was... more confusing at first,” Marvin says quietly. “Things were... I saw... I-I don’t really remember some of this night. Then I woke up again, and I... saw him. And he... was using my body...” He shudders.

“It’s fine, Marvin,” Chase whispers. “It’s over now. We can get out of here.”

“Is that what we do now?” Schneep asks. “Just... leave?”

“I think so. I don’t want to stay in the cabin with a weird evil ritual circle in the basement. And I want to ask Jack what the hell this was all about. It’s his cabin, he has to know.”

“I don’t think we can ask Jack...” Marvin says. “He... th-that spirit, he made a comment... something about getting Jack out of the way...”

Fear jolts through Chase’s heart. “Then we definitely have to get out of here.”

Maybe we should rest first? JJ asks. Marvin’s not in great shape. All of us are exhausted.

“I’m fine with leaving soon,” Marvin says. “I can... can lie on the couch while you all pack your stuff.”

Jackie nods. “Sounds good to me. What about the rest of you?”

“I can drive in the dark,” Chase says.

“I do not think we should stay here,” Schneep mutters.

Whatever you all think, JJ adds.

“Then we’ll do it. Come on.” And Jackie heads for the stairs. The rest of them follow.

It doesn’t take them long to re-pack their stuff. They didn’t really have time to unpack fully before everything went terribly. Marvin lies on the sofa, and the others take turns waiting by him, not wanting to leave him alone. He keeps muttering things that don’t make sense. Things about blood being life, and life being power, and what the symbols in the circle meant. When someone asks, he says he doesn’t know what he’s saying. That there is just knowledge in his head now. Knowledge he doesn’t want.

They load the car with their stuff, then head on out. Marvin claims the passenger seat, saying he doesn’t want to be crowded by the others right now. The others let him have it. It’s the least they can do. As Chase starts the car and heads out, they debate calling someone. But in the end, who could they call? Who would believe them?

As the cabin disappears into the woods, Marvin leans his head against the cool window. “Guys...?” he says. “Th... thanks. I-I lov... I really appreciate it. Thanks.”

They all know what he almost said. And they all feel the same.

Ending Reached: Banishment

(Congratulations for reaching the best ending on the Marvin route! :D And here's the link for the full version now uploaded to AO3!)

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #chase brody #jameson jackson #jackieboy man #dr schneeplestein #marvin the magnificent #antisepticeye #manyroadsdivergejse #brigid writes fanfiction

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crystalninjaphoenix · 23 days

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I'm gonna post so much writing this month fjdkahljkdh

You know why?

Because Many Roads Diverge—the interactive fanfic that I first showed off here in October—is Basically Done. It's not entirely complete, but you know what? I realized that with the time limits for polls on Tumblr, if I started another runthrough here soon, I would definitely be done by the time Tumblr reaches an ending.

So...

On Tuesday the 9th, we will be starting ANOTHER runthrough of Many Roads Diverge!

For those of you who weren't there for the first one, or who don't remember, here is the first part, and here is the tag for all the parts and my progress updates!

Here's how the runthrough will work.

I will post a part of the story at 12pm Pacific Standard Time. Starting with me REBLOGGING the original first part! At the bottom of the post will be a poll where YOU can vote for what will happen next in the story. The poll will only be open for 24 hours. So if you want to participate, you’ll have to do it quick. The day after the results the NEXT part of the story will be up, and so on and so forth until you reach an ending ^-^

Some choices will not matter all that much, merely giving you more information or different dialogue. But SOME choices will be VERY important. There is danger in the cabin. If things go wrong, characters WILL die. So if you’re uncomfortable with character death, maybe don’t participate.

If you want to join, be sure to check my blog every two days starting April 9th. OR I’ll be putting all parts under the tag “manyroadsdivergejse” if you would prefer to check that instead.

Afterwards, I'll start posting all the parts to AO3! It will take a long time for everything to be uploaded, considering the whole thing is 310k words and counting. But then people can pursue it at their leisure!

I hope to see you all there! :D

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #brigid writes fanfiction #manyroadsdivergejse

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crystalninjaphoenix · 14 days

Text

Information Retrieval

A JSE Fanfic

SepticHeroes AU: Part 29

First Part | Previous Part | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Time for more of this AU! Yay! This chapter is all about the guys finding stuff out. Trying to figure out more about Anti-Virus. He's clearly still around, after all, and he's probably planning something. That's what villains tend to do. Jackie visits a hospital, trying to see if he can track down Timekeeper from the records there. And meanwhile, Schneep dons his Specter disguise again and sneaks into SepTech to have a look around. Just in case Marvin is right about McLoughlin being connected. Hope you guys enjoy :)

===============

It felt very strange to casually walk into a hospital wearing his supersuit. Jackie was certainly attracting a lot of stares from people in the waiting room. But he remained calm, walking up to the reception desk like this was the most normal thing in the world. He glanced around the waiting room as he did. St. Ellen’s Hospital was an older one than Greengate General Hospital. That was the one he was used to, the one Schneep worked at. That one had sleek modern furniture and lots of glass decorations, this one was more closed-in, with boxy furniture from the 70s or earlier.

“Ah... can I help you, Windstorm?” Asked the nurse behind the reception desk. He looked nervous—young, too, probably still doing his studies or whatever people did to become nurses and doctors.

“I need to look up the records for some patients who were admitted about two and a half years ago,” Jackie said, silently impressed at how calm he was.

“Of... course.” The nurse nodded. “Um... one second. Let me... page someone more qualified for this.” He reached down to his belt and fumbled with something.

“Right right.” Jackie nodded. “Take all the time you need.” He shifted on his feet awkwardly, looking around the waiting room again. Yep. Everyone was staring. Literally everyone. They all glanced away once he noticed, of course. Except for a couple kids waiting, sitting next to their parents on plastic chairs and holding coloring books and small toys. He smiled at them. Their eyes lit up and they waved back.

Another nurse hurried over from a hallway to the side, joining the first one behind the desk. “Hello, Windstorm,” she said cheerfully. “We’re happy to help. What did you need?”

“I need to look up some records for patients,” Jackie said.

“Which ones?”

“The ones who were admitted after that fight with Timekeeper and Earth Shaker.” Jackie had decided last night to ask for all the patients. It would seem less like he was looking for Dahlia specifically. “The one that knocked down the East SepTech building.”

“Of course.” The nurse smiled. “Ryan here will be happy to pull up the records for them.”

“Um, can I see the physical copies as well?” Jackie asked.

“Of course. Ryan can take you to our records room.”

The young nurse—Ryan, apparently—raised his eyebrows slightly, clearly not expecting to be told to do that. But he nodded. Jackie smiled at him sympathetically. “I’ll be as quick as possible so you can get back to work.”

“No, uh, it’s no problem, sir,” Ryan said. “Follow me this way.” He walked around the desk, down another hallway of the hospital. Jackie followed him silently.

They walked a short way to an elevator at the end of the hallway. Ryan pressed the button to call it, then they both stepped inside when it arrived. Ryan tapped a keycard against a scanner in the elevator then pressed a button for the basement.

The ride was more than a bit awkward.

“So... I guess you don’t get many Heroes visiting,” Jackie said, trying to make conversation.

“Um... not at all while I’ve been here, actually.” Ryan laughed a little. “But uh... June—that’s the lady who showed, uh, showed up at the desk—she said that they used to get Heroes here. Like, uh, Moonstone? Have you heard of her?”

Jackie nodded. “Yeah. She’s cool.”

“Y-yeah, seems like it.”

The elevator arrived, and Ryan led Jackie out into a hallway leading to a +-shaped intersection. This was clearly a more administrative part of the building, with short dark carpet and walls painted pale blue. The lights were a bit dimmer than upstairs. Or maybe they were normal and the clinical lights upstairs were especially bright. “So, uh... the records are archived in, like, alphabetical order,” Ryan said as they walked down the hall and turned a corner. “So it’ll probably be hard to find the people related to this incident just using that. But, uh, I can pull up the records on the digital database and you can look them up with that.”

“That’d be great, Ryan, thanks,” Jackie said.

“No problem.” They arrived at a door with ‘Records’ written on a plaque nailed to the front of it, right under a tinted window. Ryan pressed his keycard to a scanner next to it, then opened up the door. The room was dark. Even turning the lights on, it was still a bit dim. Aside from a desk to the side with an older-looking computer—though not old enough to require a boxy monitor—there were rows and rows of shelves filled with boxes. Ryan hurried over to the desk and sat down at the computer. “The East SepTech incident... wh-what was that, June? May?”

“Late May,” Jackie said. “The date was somewhere in the twenties.”

“Right.” Ryan typed for a while, then nodded. “Here’s a list of everyone admitted because of that super fight.”

Jackie walked to his side and peered at the monitor. He gave a brief scan of the list, but then his eyes landed on a singular name. Jackson, Dahlia. So she was admitted here. As herself, not as Timekeeper. There were a ton of names besides hers. The numbered list ended in the thirties. “I had no idea there were so many people.”

“W-well, do you have any other information you want to know?” Ryan asked.

“Can you narrow it down to the more serious injuries? Like... the really bad ones?”

Ryan nodded. He clicked a little box on the side and most of the names disappeared, leaving only six, Dahlia’s name among them.

“Perfect,” Jackie said. He could pretend to be interested in five other people. “Let’s go in alphabetical order.” He stood up straight. “You stay here, I can do everything myself.”

“Are you sure, uh... sir?” Ryan asked.

Jackie laughed. “Just Windstorm is fine. And I’m sure. I’m a superhero, after all. If I can’t handle looking through some boxes, what can I handle?”

Ryan laughed nervously. “Just... let me know if you need help.”

“Of course.”

Jackie hurried through the first three files. He felt a bit bad just skimming them, but he didn’t really have to know about these guys. And he didn’t want to look at random people’s medical files without their permission, even if it did help disguise what he was really looking into. He occasionally asked Ryan if there was any additional information on the digital database, and Ryan pulled it up in turn. There were no differences for these first three files. The digital database was just as accurate as the paper copies.

Then it was time to look at Dahlia’s. Jackie found it in the J’s—right next to another file with a familiar name. Jameson Jackson. Jackie started slightly, and then noticed two other names nearby. Philip Jackson and Elsbeth Schneeplestein Jackson. So... this was the Jackson family’s preferred hospital. Made sense, then, why JJ would take Dahlia here. Jackie hesitated, then decided to leave the rest of the Jackson family untouched, only taking Dahlia’s—and promising to only look at the information related to the incident.

According to the file, Dahlia had been admitted to the hospital by her brother, Jameson. Just as Jackie suspected. Rubble had landed on her, causing severe injuries, including to the head. That’s what put her in a coma. She also had some broken bones, but given how this was two and a half years ago, those had healed by now. She had been stable besides that, no show of recovering or getting worse. And... nothing more. No records of transfers or anything. “Hey, Ryan?” Jackie called. “Any more information on Dahlia Jackson? Like... this seems pretty serious.”

Ryan already had the file pulled up. “Um... well, it seems she’s not in the hospital anymore.”

“Oh?” Jackie asked.

“Yeah, this says she was transferred to Overridge Hospital in Evoritch. It’s a specialty place for long-term care.”

That was not in the paper copies. “When?”

“Back in July of this year.”

That was also not in the paper copies. But it seems like the paper copies had also been updated in July—probably right before Dahlia disappeared. It was possible that someone forgot to file a notice about the transfer... but Jackie doubted it. He looked back down at the paper copy. The doctor in charge of this was one Dr. Eric Simmons. A neurologist, of course. “Hey, actually. Do you know if I can contact any of these doctors? If I want to follow up on their injuries.”

“Um... I-I’m sure you can find them on our website,” Ryan said slowly.

Website, huh? Not good. Jackie wanted to keep this as offline and away from technology as possible. Who knew what Anti-Virus would do if he knew Jackie was looking into the hero he was holding hostage? “Can I talk to them in person, you think? Since I’m already here?”

Ryan froze, looking very confused for a moment. “Um... you’ll have to talk to June about that, I think?”

“Right.” Jackie nodded. “I’ll do that once we get back up. For now, let’s keep going. Who’s next?”

He quickly passed over the other two files. He pretended to take notes on them, the same as he’d done for the others—and actually done for Dahlia’s—then put everything back and told Ryan he was ready to go. The two of them headed out.

Honestly, the whole thing had slightly disturbed him. The fact that he could just say he was a Hero and walk in and get access to all this private information. It did make things easier, but... there had to be a few other safeguards. They didn’t even ask him to show his League badge, and he’d at least expected that.

He shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. He had to focus on Anti-Virus and Timekeeper. If he could find her, if he could defeat him, then Anti-Virus wouldn’t have any power over Jameson. He wouldn’t have to stay in prison, and could come home... or at least get transferred to a prison with less security, one where Schneep and the others could visit.

Jackie spent the rest of the morning getting information about the various doctors from that nurse, June. She was even kind enough to write down their office hours for him. Apparently the doctor who treated Dahlia, Dr. Simmons, wasn’t in today. This was his day off, he wouldn’t be called in unless it was an emergency. Jackie made a note of that, and said he’d be back tomorrow to talk to this Simmons guy (and, supposedly, the other doctors) in person. Then he turned and left, heading home.

===============

Jackie returned home through his bedroom window. Chase was at work, so he had some time to himself. He didn’t do much, though. Changed out of his supersuit, took a nap, then called the police again to ask about the evidence he’d turned in. The operator directed him to Ace, who said that they would finish examining the tape later that day. “Call back again in the evening, I’ll have an update for you then,” Ace said. “And uh, remember to use the non-emergency line.”

“Right. Sorry.” Jackie had been so worried about the evidence and possibly getting JJ a real trial that he dialed 999 right away. The poor operator probably thought something was really wrong.

Not long after that, Jackie heard the front door open. He stood up from where he was lying in bed and opened his bedroom door, just in time to see Chase and Frosty walking down the hall towards him. “Hey, bro,” Chase said, giving him a tired smile. “You had that hospital thing today, right? How’d it go?”

“Well, turns out I’ll have to go back tomorrow,” Jackie said, sighing.

“Aw, really? That sucks.” Chase shook his head. “I know all about frequent hospital visits, trust me. Never gets more convenient.”

Jackie laughed. “Yeah. How was your day?”

“Dude, I’m exhausted. I’m gonna change out of work clothes and take a nap.”

“Your work clothes aren’t that different from your regular clothes,” Jackie pointed out. “Just another T-shirt and jacket. You could totally nap in that.”

“Shhh, it’s the idea of it. It’ll help me get more comfortable. Gotta change into some sweatpants, too.” Chase headed into his room... then hesitated. “Uh... actually, first, maybe I want to get a snack or something.” He took his phone out of his pocket and set it on the desk. Then looked at Jackie significantly. “Want anything?”

Jackie nodded slowly. He’d left his phone charging on his dresser, so no need to leave it behind. He understood what Chase was getting at.

The two of them went into the kitchen. “D’you think he can affect our TV?” Chase whispered.

Jackie glanced at it. “Maybe if we had a smart TV,” he muttered back. “I’m actually glad we have an old model like that. The game consoles can connect to the internet... but I don’t think they can do that while they’re not on.”

“Let’s keep quiet anyway, just in case,” Chase said, still in that low tone. “Um... so... did you find out anything about Dahlia?”

“Nothing all that new, just that what JJ said on his video about her being supposedly transferred is true,” Jackie confirmed. “The transfer only exists on the digital records, not the paper ones.”

“What if someone just, like, forgot to print that out?”

“It’s possible. But knowing what we do about you-know-who, I’m willing to bet he got into the hospital system and made a fake note about a transfer.”

Chase shivered. “It’s... really fucked that he can do that.”

“Tell me about it. I’m going to talk to the doctor who supervised her tomorrow. Try to see if there’s anything he can tell me.”

“Um...” Chase paused, looking uncertain. “Do you know if... if there were... other people, uh... recovered from the... building? Like... with Dahlia?”

“Yeah, a whole lot,” Jackie confirmed. “And I’m sure there were more in other hospitals, too.”

“Y-Yeah...” Chase trailed off.

Jackie narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”

“I, uh... You know, I was... in that same incident,” Chase said quietly. “That’s how I... lost my memory. And uh... why I need Frosty.” Frosty wagged his tail at the sound of his name, ready to spring into action. “I keep thinking about this... the fact that... I was there. I wonder... if I... saw her.”

Jackie blinked. “Timekeeper?”

Chase nodded. “The outfit... wh-when I saw it, and when I smelled the, uh, concrete dust, I... for a moment, it was like... I was somewhere else.”

“Well... smell is linked to memory, apparently,” Jackie said.

“Maybe... maybe she saved me?” Chase wondered. “Or... something like that?” He shook his head. “I... I want to find her to... know if... we met. Or if... she would know something about me. I-I doubt it, but... I don’t know. It’s worth a shot. But... I know that’s really selfish. So, if you don’t want me to help anymore because of that, I understand.”

“...wait. Are you telling me this because you think I’ll like... kick you out of the search if I find out?” Jackie asked.

“I just... thought you should know about my secret reasons,” Chase said. “My ulterior motives.”

“I don’t think that counts as ‘ulterior motives,’ really,” Jackie said. He put a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “It makes sense that you’d want to learn more about yourself. It’s not a bad thing that you want to find Dahlia so you can talk to her about that.”

Chase hesitated. “I... But like, it’s not... it’s not like I’m just doing it to help—”

“But you’d still want to help even if she didn’t know anything about you, right?” Jackie asked.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Then it’s not ‘ulterior motives.’ That implies that you wouldn’t be doing this if you didn’t think she could help you find out about yourself. But you still would. So it’s like... additional motives.”

Chase looked down at the ground, shifting slightly on his feet. “I just... feel bad about it.”

“Why?”

“Cause it’s like... it’s selfish, like I said. And I don’t want... to bother you... with my shit. You know?”

“I don’t think it’s selfish at all,” Jackie whispered. “And I’d never be bothered by that. I want to help you find out more about your past. I mean, unless you wouldn’t want me to. It’s up to you.”

“I... if you want to help me, I’d like that,” Chase said slowly. “But like... I don’t... I’m not too concerned about actively seeking out my past. I mean, if no one came looking for me after I got fucking... horribly injured, then... it’s probably not much of a past in the first place. But... now that there’s a chance right in front of me... I-I think i have to take it. Does that make sense?”

Jackie nodded. “Yeah, of course. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not like you’d leave her if she didn’t have anything for you.”

“God no.” Chase shook his head, looking aghast at the very thought of it.

“Exactly. So it’s not selfish.”

“Not even a little?”

“I guess technically, but everyone deserves to be a little technically-selfish every so often. The trouble begins when you stop caring about people other than yourself. And I know you care a lot about people, Chase.” Jackie smiled, and put a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “So head up, okay?”

“Head up.” Chase nodded. “Uh... do you think I’ll be able to help much? I mean, I dunno what I can do... compared to you and everyone else. Like, you’re all... super at what you do, you know?”

Jackie laughed. “Yeah. I guess so. But you’re super in our hearts, Chase. And hey, who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to find something that the rest of us can’t.”

“Maybe.” Chase smiled weakly.

“...hey.” Jackie lowered his voice. “Don’t... don’t compare yourself to others. Especially not the rest of us. It’s not... i-it’s not fair.”

“I know, I know, it’s not fair to compare myself to, uh... guys with your abilities,” Chase muttered.

“I-it’s not just...” Jackie hesitated. “One of the reasons I put off telling you about... my secret for so long... was because I... I didn’t want you to feel bad about yourself.”

“Oh.” Chase blinked. “That’s... nice.”

“I had a feeling you might do this comparison thing if I told you,” Jackie continued. “And I really didn’t want you to do that. You don’t—there’s nothing you—Y-you’re really great. A-and you shouldn’t beat yourself up for not being an exact copy of the rest of us.”

A bit of a smile flickered across Chase’s face. “Thanks, Jackie.”

“No, I really, really mean it,” Jackie insisted. “You’re really great. You’re like—the first roommate I’ve ever lived with who I’ve a-actually been able to make friends with. Y-you’re so supportive and fun and—and—I-I can’t stress how much you’ve done for me, like, letting me stay in here, a-and being so chill about my secret—You were so genuinely concerned that I was getting into something bad, and so caring in how you approached it—and—and—” He took a breath, and shook his head. “I just... really care about you, and I don’t want you to think that you’re less than the rest of us, not after everything you’ve done.”

“...oh,” Chase breathed.

Jackie nodded. “You’re great, man. I love how chill you are, and how you’re so dedicated to your channel, but how you still have time to have fun with me and Schneep and everyone... even though you have work, too, like, that’s gotta tire you out, but you just don’t give up, you know? I mean, you should rest, of course. I don’t want you to get too tired. And you’re real funny, too, you know?”

Chase laughed. “Alright, alright, I-I get it. You don’t have to pile it on, you know?” He rubbed his eyes. “But... really, thanks. You, uh... really went off there.”

“I’ll gladly go off on this,” Jackie said firmly. “You’re great, Chase. And I don’t want anyone to tell you otherwise. Even yourself.”

“Thanks.” Chase gave him a crooked smile. “Now, uh... I’m actually a little hungry now that I think about it. So I’m gonna heat up some leftover pizza before my nap.”

Jackie laughed. “Oh hey, that doesn’t sound half bad. Maybe I’ll heat up a slice, too.”

“Great, we can put two slices in.”

About ten minutes later, Chase had returned to his room for that nap, and Jackie sat down on the sofa to play some games until dinner. He probably should have been working on finding Anti-Virus, but honestly, he wasn’t even sure where to start. Maybe if he had some time to relax, he’d figure something out.

The problem was that they had absolutely no leads on Anti-Virus. Other than him being a technopath. And that didn’t tell him much. Normally he’d be doing research on weird stuff that might be because of a technopath, but... all that information would be online. And Anti-Virus would probably know that Jackie was doing research on him. It was a bit of a Catch-22, really, he had to look online for information, but he had to avoid being online to keep Anti-Virus in the dark.

He would have to look around the city in person. He highly doubted that Anti-Virus lived outside of Daindover. Otherwise, why would he be so interested in attacking it? SepTech had businesses all over the country. Even if this was SepTech’s home turf, Jackie knew they had big locations elsewhere. And even if Anti-Virus was originally from out of town, Jackie had no doubt he would want to be close to his target.

Jackie’s mind began to wander. Yes, he should look around town for anything suspicious. Maybe this guy had a base of operations somewhere. He’d have to be pretty thorough. Maybe he could get help from Schneep and Marvin on that. The two of them were certainly experienced in sneaking around.

===============

After a couple days of scouting, Schneep felt confident enough to actually venture into the North SepTech location. Only at night, though, when almost everyone had gone home. Apparently the building was never totally empty. There was always a security team guarding the area, even after all other employees had gone home. And the security system seemed pretty high-tech. Schneep recognized a couple camera brands during his scouting—though many of the cameras were nondescript, no doubt made by SepTech themself.

Donning his Specter outfit again felt strange. The last time he’d worn this, he’d tried to break JJ out of jail, tried to convince him that living on the run would be better than living in prison. He couldn’t help but think about that last conversation while he pulled on the coat and boots. But also, he’d done many things he was proud of while wearing this outfit. Maybe it was unusual for him to think of his heists as things to be proud of, but he was. The suit felt like an old friend every time he put it on... even if he couldn’t help but be reminded of Jameson this time.

But that was why he was doing this, wasn’t it? If he could figure out if McLoughlin and SepTech really were connected to Anti-Virus, then he could rescue his cousins. Protect them from him.

Schneep took the train most of the way to the North SepTech building. It was very easy; he just had to hop on when it stopped at the station. He didn’t have to worry about the fare. After all, you could only check people’s tickets if you could see them. Schneep just had to be quiet as he sat there, completely invisible, and waited for his stop.

Some of the SepTech buildings were fancy. The North location was not one of them. It looked like an ordinary office building with a yellowish facade and big windows, the SepTech logo plastered to the top. Schneep circled around to the side. Even while invisible, he preferred to avoid cameras, just in case one of them had infrared vision he didn’t know about. And something he’d learned from years doing this: businesses tended to put their cameras around doors and windows. Which made sense, because most people would need a door or window to get into a building. But Schneep was not “most people.” He could walk right through a wall, where a camera blind spot was.

After walking through his chosen wall, Schneep ended up in a small unisex bathroom—just big enough for two stalls. He headed through another wall and into a ground floor hallway. This was just going to be a short excursion to get the lay of the building. Figure out where they were keeping things, and how much time McLoughlin spent here.

Jackie let it slip to the rest of the group that McLoughlin had a lab here. Schneep was very curious as to where that was, and what was in it. He figured that was a good place to start. Now... where was it? Would it be high in the building? Or below ground? Was there a directory in here somewhere?

There was—Schneep found it in the front entrance hall—but it didn’t say anything about a laboratory. Even so, he looked it over. Nothing much of note. A couple floors of call centers, a couple floors dedicated to SepTech’s marketing, some offices for company bigwigs—oh, there was a floor in the middle completely devoted to file storage. That was worth noting. But no laboratory anywhere, even though every single floor was covered. Meaning either the directory was lying about the contents of its floors, or the lab was underground, in an unlisted basement.

Schneep started looking around for the stairwells and elevators. He’d managed to find an old copy of the SepTech blueprints from a contact of his, but they were, as said, old. The building could’ve been renovated since then. Best to get a lay of the land.

A couple security people were patrolling the area. Every time one approached, Schneep made sure to stop walking and remain intangible so they wouldn’t run into him. He eventually found an elevator at the end of a hallway that wasn’t on the blueprints. And as he looked it over, he saw that the call button was undecorated, unlike all the others that had an arrow pointing upwards. Hmm... suspicious.

Schneep leaned forward, sticking his intangible head through the closed doors and into the elevator shaft. He looked up, then down. The elevator was currently on the next floor down. And the shaft didn’t extend upwards at all. So this must just lead to a basement, not the rest of the building. Jackpot. This must be the lab.

He considered his options. He could just call the elevator and hope nobody noticed, or that they waved it off as a glitch in the system. But he didn’t want to risk that. This was too important. So instead, he took a deep breath, and walked through the closed elevator doors.

Halfway through the short fall, he became solid again, and landed on the roof of the elevator. “Oof!” The elevator jolted a little. He felt the jolt travel through his legs, knees and ankles aching for a moment. But he soon recovered. He became intangible again, dropping through the roof of the elevator and into it. As expected, there was only one button on the inside. There was only one destination. Schneep then stepped through the doors, into this basement floor.

Well, wasn’t this a change of pace? Instead of the office decorations he’d seen on the floor above, this area was more industrial, with white walls and perforated metal for a ceiling and floor. There was only one destination, at the end of a short hallway. Schneep walked down it to a set of double-doors, poking his head inside...

Well. This was definitely a laboratory. Schneep looked around at the wide space, decorated with conveyor belts and monitors and robotic arms. He started wandering around, getting a lay of the land. Looking for anything suspicious.

There were doors lining the sides of the room. Schneep poked his head into them one by one. There were too many to investigate thoroughly, but he could at least figure out what their contents were, if there were any that might have helpful information. The first few he checked had nothing interesting, just a bunch of robotic and metallic parts. One had a bunch of SAMs inside, all turned off. Many of them had compartments open on their side, with half-completed attachments sticking out. SAMs were well-known for their variety of functions, but... something about these attachments... bothered him.

Schneep stepped farther into the room, examining the nearest one. A SAM with blue casing, two compartments open on either side. The lights were off in the room, but Schneep reached up and pressed a button on his goggles, activating night vision. He leaned closer to examine the attachments coming from the compartments—

And jolted back in surprise. “Heilige Scheiße,” he muttered, the words slipping out despite his need for stealth. He recognized these attachments. These were weapons. Specifically, these attachments looked pretty similar to some weapons he’d seen for sale in the underworld. The design was first made by the villain Riot Queen, and it fired beams instead of bullets, but it could still pack a punch.

Schneep quickly turned and examined the other SAMs. He recognized a couple more weapons that were often sold in the black market. And the ones that he didn’t still looked like guns or cannons of some kind. What the hell? Weapons were definitely not part of the SAMs shared with the public!

He quickly left the room, returning to the main lab. The weaponized SAMs weren’t concrete proof that McLoughlin was working with Anti-Virus, but it certainly wasn’t a good sign! Especially since they were tucked away in a side room off his own lab. That probably indicated they were a secret.

Taking a deep breath, Schneep decided to continue checking the rooms. But quickly. He ran into the next side room, and from there continued passing through the rooms through the walls, not even bothering with the main lab. He ran through them quickly, finding not much else of note—

Until he ran into a room with something slightly different. It was still full of mechanical parts, including a big monitor on the wall, but there were a couple more things. A small side room with a toilet and sink, a desk piled high with paper dishes and cups stained with old food, and a bed shoved in the corner of the room. And sleeping on it... was a man.

Schneep stopped in his tracks, staring. Was that... Dr. McLoughlin? He’d done some brief research in preparation of it, and the man’s face resembled the pictures he’d seen. Why was he sleeping here? Didn’t he have his own place? Maybe... this was a spare bedroom? In case he worked late in the lab?

He couldn’t help but step forward, leaning close to McLoughlin. Yep, he was fast asleep, tangled up in the gray blankets on the bed. It felt wrong to just... stare at a guy while he slept. He should get out of here. He could come back some other time, when the guy wasn’t here. With that in mind, he started to turn away—

The monitor on the wall suddenly turned on, its screen pure red. BRAP. BRAP. BRAP. “Intruder alert,” said a robotic voice. “Intruder alert.”

Schneep stiffened. How?! Was there an infrared camera in this room?! Why?! Who would put that in the room they were sleeping in?!

McLoughlin jerked awake with a strangled scream. Over on the desk, something flew up from the surface—a smaller SAM, green and blue, which had been sitting on a small pillow partially hidden by the dirty dishes. “What?! How?!” McLoughlin’s eyes darted around, and Schneep froze. Would he hear his footsteps? McLoughlin pressed a hand to the side of his head. “God...damn it. I told you to change the sound of my alarm! I-I don’t want to hear that sound ever again!”

“Intruder alert,” continued the robotic voice.

“...oh fuck it’s not my alarm,” McLoughlin whispered. He scrambled to his feet—yep, he was probably just crashing here, given how he was still wearing his day clothes. “Intruder alert?! Where?!”

“Motion detection set off in Storage 18,” said the robotic voice.

McLoughlin blinked. “My room? That was probably just me rolling over.”

“Unlikely. The motion was outside the field of the deliberate blind spot.”

McLoughlin looked around the room, not seeing an intruder. “Is it still being set off?”

“No.”

“Display main lab cameras on the monitor in Storage 18.”

The monitor changed from red to a series of boxes—views from security cameras. Schneep’s eyes flicked over to it, quickly taking in the information. Maybe he’d be able to figure out where the cameras are from their view.

McLoughlin leaned close to the monitor, squinting. “Turn down the brightness, fucking hell.” The brightness lowered on command. He scanned it. “Turn on infrared view.” The cameras all switched to the distinctive blues and greens of infrared view. There wasn't much giving off heat in the laboratory. Some comes from machines, some comes from the overhead lights, and that’s just about it. “I don’t... see anything. Can you point out any differences? SAM, you help, too.” The small SAM flew over to his side.

A moment passed. Schneep tried not to move, tried to breathe as evenly as possible. Then the robotic voice returned. “No movement or anomalies detected.” The SAM also shook side to side, a bit like it was shaking its head.

McLoughlin sighed. “Where in Storage 18 was the motion detected? Show me on the camera.”

One of the views filled the whole screen—thankfully, this one didn’t seem to have infrared vision, otherwise Schneep would have been in plain sight. It was a view of this very same room. The footage rewinded the past couple minutes, and a red circle appeared on the screen next to the bed—right where Schneep had been standing. “Here.”

“Yeah, that’s probably just me passing out of the blind spot for a moment,” McLoughlin said. He glanced around the room uneasily. “...I hope.” A moment passed in tense silence. “It’s... 2 o’clock, right? Uh... I’m gonna... go home for the night. Deactivate all security protocols so I can leave. And remember to reactivate them after I leave.”

“Security deactivated,” the robotic voice said.

Schneep immediately turned and left the room, carefully stepping quietly until he passed through a wall back into the main lab. Then he bolted. He ran all the way to the elevator in the hall, where he pressed into the corner. McLoughlin walked into the elevator a while later, activating it, going back to the ground floor. Luckily, the ride was short. Schneep let McLoughlin walk out first, then quickly followed, walking straight through the nearest exterior wall and back out into the night.

God, he hoped McLoughlin hadn’t figured out he was there. He didn’t want a man involved with weaponizing flying robots to know he was in his lab.

===============

“There were guns on the SAMs?!”

“Don’t shout so loud,” Schneep muttered. He’d been unceremoniously awoken that morning—on his day off, mind you—by a knock at the door. Marvin said he was in the area and wanted to stop by to talk about “that stuff I mentioned in your office.” But he’d probably just gotten anxious for results or something. Schneep knew his apartment was pretty out of the way, there was no way Marvin would just be in the area.

“Sorry.” Marvin glanced around. “You don’t... have a computer in here, though. And I left my phone in my bag in the hall. Do you have your phone with you?”

“I do not, I left it in my bedroom, but I want to go back to sleep after this.” Schneep rubbed his eyes. He was leaning back against his sofa while Marvin stood nearby. “I do not have work today, and I had a late night, as you just heard.”

Marvin winced. “Sorry,” he said again. “I didn’t... think about that.”

“Is fine.”

“...but seriously. Guns on the SAMs?” Marvin asked.

“I do not think they were the type to fire bullets, but yes,” Schneep said. “There would probably be no room to store them in a SAM and have them still function. But a couple may have been functional for darts.”

“That’s... very fucking concerning,” Marvin said. “D’you think Anti-Virus asked McLoughlin to do that? Or—do you think he did that on his own as Anti-Virus?”

“I have no idea.” Schneep shook his head. “I found no direct link to Anti-Virus before I had to leave.”

“What would serve as a direct link?”

“Hmm... that is a good question,” Schneep said slowly. “Anti-Virus never directly appeared, so it is not like we will be able to find a supersuit stored somewhere. He may not have one in the first place.” He frowned. “And all of Anti-Virus’s actions have been digital so far... So there may not be physical proof at all. The SAMs may be the best we are getting.”

Marvin shook his head. “Still. Guess we’ll have to look some more. Um, I can probably get into the SepTech buildings and look through files and shit. But... I think you really need to keep an eye on McLoughlin.”

“I will do all I can, but I cannot spend every waking moment spying on him,” Schneep said.

“I wouldn’t make you,” Marvin said. “I just... Jackie really trusts this guy. A-and I don’t... I don’t want to see him make a mistake.”

Schneep looked at Marvin thoughtfully. “You do not want to see him make a mistake you would have.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marvin said, his face expressionless. But Schneep picked up on that slight tremor in his voice. “Um, I’m sorry for waking you up. You can... go back to bed. Let me know if you find anything.”

“Of course.” Schneep nodded. “See you later, then.”

“See you.” And with that, Marvin turned and headed towards the door. But then he hesitated, turning back. “Should we tell Jackie about this? It’s concerning, even if it’s not Anti-Virus related.”

“I will think about it,” Schneep said. “I think it would sound better coming from me, so do not approach him, yes? If I want to share, I will. For now... I need rest.”

“Right.” Marvin nodded. “Bye, then.”

“Goodbye.”

And Marvin left.

Schneep got up, stretching, and headed back to his bedroom. Should he tell Jackie about the weaponized SAMs in McLoughlin’s lab? He wasn’t sure. He didn’t want Jackie to trust the wrong person. But he knew that Jackie would want solid proof. This seemed pretty fucking solid to him, but he didn’t know if it would pass Jackie’s standards.

He’ll think about it some more once he woke up again. For now, sleep. And later, more planning. McLoughlin was doing something. And they had to figure out what. If he truly was in league with Anti-Virus... or if he was the face behind the mask.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #jackieboy man #chase brody #dr schneeplestein #marvin the magnificent #brigid writes fanfiction #septicheroesau

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crystalninjaphoenix · 3 days

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Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Nine

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You've made your decision. Wonder what you'll see?After the landscape 100% vote a while ago it's strange to see so many close votes come after it XD Well that's just how it works sometimes.

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 26th at 12:00pm PST. THIS IS THE LAST PART WITH A POLL. Your last chance to affect the ending! After this, the final part will be uploaded on April 27th at 12:00 PST.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

Nobody says anything for a while. Then Chase sighs. “Well, that’s all the answer we need. If we don’t know what to do, we have to get out of here.”

“Do we call the police?” Jackie asks in a hushed voice. “Wh-what the hell do we even say?”

“We should try, at least,” Schneep says.

“I’ll do that, then,” Chase says, opening up the number pad on his phone. “Let’s walk as I do that. Get out of here.”

JJ walks to the room’s door and gently opens it, looking outside. As Chase dials the number, he jerks back and looks at the others. Marvin is gone, he says, hands shaking slightly.

Schneep blinks. “What do you mean?”

Gone! JJ repeats, gesturing down the hallway.

The other three also look outside. They’d left Marvin’s body on the hallway floor just outside the next door down. It’s not there anymore. “...run for the stairs,” Jackie whispers. “Now!”

They all move as one, bolting down the hallway and up the stairs. Chase keeps his phone pressed to his ear even as he runs up the steps. It’s ringing. It’s ringing. It’s ringing. Why isn’t the call being picked up?!

The door at the top of the staircase is closed. Jackie reaches it first, grabbing the doorknob—and stopping short as it doesn’t turn. “Oh come on!” he cries. “Not this shit again!” He looks back at the others, and his eyes land on Chase. “Tell them we’re stuck!”

“I-I don’t think it’s going through,” Chase says shakily.

“What?!”

“It’s just ringing forever.” But just as he says that, the ringing stops. “Oh! Hello?”

SKREEEEEE—

“Gah!” Chase drops his phone, which clatters to the floor. Its screen is covered in static as white noise blares from the speakers. And then the screen cracks and the static disappears. A small puff of smoke comes from his phone. “O-oh... That’s... not normal.”

“Fuck it!” Jackie slams the door some more but it doesn’t even move. “We’re going back downstairs to find some way out of here!”

“There are no other ways into the basement, though!” Schneep says.

“Well clearly we’re stuck here! So maybe there’s something to help break it down!” Jackie turns around and rushes back down the stairs. The others glance at each other, then follow.

Jackie runs straight down the hallway towards the big room at the end. It’s unchanged, with the bookcases and junk and wooden chairs. He starts searching through the boxes. Schneep and JJ glance at each other, then help him. Chase hangs back, uneasily glances around. He can’t shake this feeling that something is going to happen at any moment. And then his eyes land on the nearest bookcase. Specifically, on the middle shelf. “Wait. Guys.”

The others all glance back at him. What? JJ asks.

“Remember this?” Chase walks over and picks up the book from earlier. “It was hidden, right? I think you mentioned this earlier, JJ, something about... maybe it was hidden deliberately?”

JJ nods. He hurries over to Chase, signing as he walks. Open it up and look through it. Maybe there’s something that can help.

“So we’re going back to that, then?” Jackie stands up straight. “We’re doing something, not leaving?”

“I suppose it’s worth a try,” Schneep agrees. “But Jackie, I think we should keep looking, just in case.”

Chase flips through the yellowed pages of the book, trying to go slowly out of fear of damaging it. And that’s when he notices it. One of the pages has its corner folded over. He stops to look at that one. The book is handwritten, like a journal, with ink that was once black but has faded to brown with time. The left page has an illustration of a person lying on the ground, some sort of smoke emanating from their body and forming a vaguely humanoid shape. The right page has a block of text and a title that reads “Expulsion of Unwanted Spirits.” JJ’s eyes widen. He whistles to get the others’ attention.

Jackie and Schneep glance at each other, then stop searching and walk over to join Chase and JJ. “What is this?” Schneep mutters.

“It’s like... an exorcism,” Jackie says. “Do you guys think this is why Marvin... did that?” He touches his throat, shivering.

JJ leans forward and reaches for the book, intending to indicate part of the text. Chase jerks the book away from him. “Hey, careful! You’ll get blood on it!”

“What?” Jackie looks at him, then at JJ. “What’re you talking about, Chase?”

“JJ’s hands. They’re covered in...” Chase trails off, staring at JJ’s hands. There is no blood on them. “Huh?”

“Oh, you mean because he was trying to stop the bleeding, yes?” Schneep says. “He wiped his hands off.”

“O-oh...” That makes sense, but Chase still frowns. Something’s bothering him about that. And it’s bothering JJ, too, as he looks down at his own hands with a hard-to-read expression.

This is... just a weird feeling, right? There’s nothing wrong with JJ’s hands and clothes being clean. It’s not... important, is it?

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticeye au #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #chase brody #jameson jackson #jackieboy man #dr schneeplestein #brigid writes fanfiction #manyroadsdivergejse

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crystalninjaphoenix · 2 months

Text

To All New and Returning Subjects

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

I bet a lot of you guys hated me for the cliffhanger of the last story, right? XD But now we can see what comes of it! All five of the guys have been caught by IRIS, and now find themselves locked up in separate rooms. Each of them wonder what is going to happen to them as IRIS stops by them one by one. And yeah. There's not much more to say about it jdkhalsf This is just the start of the guys' adventures in IRIS! They have to get used to their new home! :D Enjoy, hehehe

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Anti opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar room. Simple, undecorated walls, the only things in the room being a bed, a table, some chairs, and a camera mounted in the ceiling corner. Fear immediately shot through his heart and he sat up straight. This couldn’t be real! This had to be a dream of some kind, or another one of Distorter’s illusions. He patted the walls and bed around him—but they felt real. They felt so real.

His breathing started to speed up. No! No, he couldn’t be back here—back in IRIS! But as he got up and explored the room, desperately trying to find some flaw in this illusion, the truth slowly sunk in. He was back.

Or had he even left at all in the first place? What if Disorter had merely been toying with him this whole time? Giving him glimpses of a hospital room that didn’t actually exist? While the whole time he’d been here, stuck in this room, maybe with those sick fucks watching him like this was some science experiment—

No. No, he couldn’t believe that. That moment with Jackie had to be real. It had to be.

Anti took a deep breath and immediately ran for the door, yanking on the doorknob. It was locked, of course. He tried pounding on it, kicking it, shoving his shoulder against it, but there was no give at all. Of course there wasn’t. He should know better by now.

Okay. Okay. He has to stay calm. Taking a deep breath, he looked up into the corner of the room. The camera was on, its red light blinking. “You fuckers,” he hissed. “You fucking freaks. Why? Why?!”

The camera didn’t answer, of course.

Another deep breath. Anti started pacing around the floor. Okay, think. What was the last thing he remembered? There was an IRIS scientist, and a bunch of smoke that knocked him out. It must have knocked out the others, too. Were they also in this place? Or had IRIS only taken him? He had no way of knowing.

He wanted to ask the camera questions, but knew better than to expect an answer. And he couldn’t waste his energy. That might have been his problem last time he was here. He wore himself out, and when an opportunity to fight came, he was too tired to. Patience would be the name of the game this time. He couldn’t spend all his time on bullshit that didn’t matter.

Sighing, he sat down on the bed again, noticing a lump under the covers when he did. He stood up again and moved the blankets aside. It was a green bouncy ball. The same green bouncy ball that they’d given him last time. It was still here. He laughed darkly and picked it up. “Hope you guys give me food before you give me a second ball,” he muttered, squeezing it. He looked up into the camera. “If you guys went to all the trouble to bring me back here, you have to want me alive. So you better keep me alive. Okay? I can’t die of hunger.”

Come to think of it, when was the last time he ate anything at all? It had to be before he sleepwalked to IRIS the first time. Maybe dinner that night with Will? God—Will. He had to hold onto hope that he was alright. He didn’t even get to see him after Jackie woke him up from Distorter’s dream world.

He shook his head. He couldn’t dwell on this. It would only make him spiral again. For now, he had to distract himself. But also conserve his strength. He’d only been up and active for a couple minutes and his muscles already felt weak. Guess that was what he got after being stuck in some sort of dream world for who knew how long. Maybe... he should do some exercise? He’d never been a fan of working out, but he had to get strong again. At the same time, if IRIS didn’t give him enough food, he might have to save his energy... It was going to be a tough balancing act from here on out.

Sighing, he bounced the ball against the wall.

———————

Jackie groaned and cracked open his eyes, finding himself in a strange room. Featureless off-white plaster walls, with a bed, a table, some chairs, and a camera mounted in the corner of the room. There was a second camera on a tripod next to the table.

“What the hell?” he muttered, sitting up. “Hello?” He looked up at the camera, confused. The last thing he remembered... was the hospital room filling with white smoke. All of them falling to it, unable to stay awake. The white smoke... and the man in the IRIS coat.

His stomach dropped. Was this somewhere in IRIS? He’d never seen any rooms like this. But then again, he’d only ever been in one of their complexes. There were at least two others near Mirygale. He could be in one of those places.

Slowly, he stood up and walked over to the door. Locked. Of course. He turned around and crossed the room again, examining the camera on the tripod. This was one of the WTCHR cameras that IRIS produced. He laughed dryly. God, he could remember them bragging about their advanced cameras, able to detect emotions with great accuracy. That seemed so long ago now.

“W-well? What are you going to do to me, then?” Jackie asked, his voice shaking slightly. “I—I’m not going back to you. S-so... you shouldn’t waste your time trying to convince me. I-I know better now.”

There was no response. Evidently, there wasn’t an intercom in this room. Which made sense, he couldn’t see any speakers anywhere. Unless... they were super small?

Jackie backed away from the camera, walking around the edge of the room a couple times, looking for any sign of IRIS’s technology besides the cameras. Nothing. He seemed to be alone with the WTCHRs.

They couldn’t be planning to leave him alone for long, though. There was no way they would leave him in this room for longer than a couple hours. Well... there was a bed. That implied they expected him to sleep. But there wasn’t a bathroom or anything, so that was a bit contradictory. Were they going to let him out for that?

Jackie swallowed a lump in his throat. A vague feeling of dread pooled in his stomach, clawing at his insides, eating away at them. He thought he knew IRIS. But it’s clear he didn’t know anything about them. He had no idea what their plans for him would be after he’d stolen some of their technology and fled with the help of Schneep and JJ. For all he knew, they would just... leave him here...

No. No, that couldn’t be it. They had to have some sort of plan. Maybe someone would show up eventually. He... he just had to wait. That’s it.

And hope that the others, wherever they were... hope that they were alright.

———————

Marvin woke up, aching all over his body. He lied there for a moment, figuring out where he was. This was a bed of some sort. Not a particularly comfortable one. The mattress was hard and the sheets had a strange crinkly texture that he didn’t enjoy. The light was bright behind his eyelids. He slowly opened them up, glancing around the room.

A plain space, more like a cell than anything else. Besides the bed he was lying on, there was a table with two chairs and a small alcove blocked off by a curtain. A camera was installed in the corner of the room, dangling from the ceiling. Exactly like the WTCHR cameras JJ had bought from IRIS.

IRIS. This must be in one of their compounds. After they all got knocked out, everyone must have been brought here. They all must be in rooms like this.

Marvin pushed the blankets away and pushed himself up. Then, slowly, carefully, he stood up—ah. Right. He stood up. He hadn’t really had time to process that back in the hospital, since the fight with Distorter had quickly taken priority. But—how the fuck was his leg suddenly healed?! Sure, his legs were shaking now, but that was from his usual fatigue and weak muscles. There was none of the pain he’d expect from a broken leg.

There had to be some sort of explanation, but he couldn’t think of what it could be right now. He slowly walked towards the alcove in the corner, using the wall for support, and pulled away the curtain. A toilet and a sink. Well... good to know. He turned around and walked back to the bed, sitting down, staring blankly forward.

After a moment, he patted himself down, making sure that he had everything. All his clothes were in place. Seemed like they just dumped him in bed fully dressed—

Hang on a moment. Where were his cards? He double checked all his pockets, but—no, his deck of cards was nowhere to be found. “They took my cards?!” Marvin blurted out in shock. “Why?!”

Did they know the powers the card had? Maybe they thought he could use them to escape? Honestly, he probably could, so he could see their reasoning—but it didn’t stop him from being shaken to find them no longer with him.

He pulled his legs back onto the bed, eyes darting around. The door would be locked, wouldn’t it? If they went to the trouble of drugging them and bringing them over, they would surely lock the door. He tried to get up again, but his legs gave out. “Shit!” he cursed. He should’ve used his strength to go check on the door. Sometimes he really hated his body.

He’ll have to wait for a good time to move again. Rest would help with that. Marvin laid down again, kicking off his shoes and trying to go to sleep. But the fear of being in this place made that difficult.

———————

JJ gasped awake, flying up immediately. Something’s wrong something’s wrong something’s wrong—

He staggered to his feet, eyes darting around. A door! He rushed for it—but found himself yanked backwards by something wrapped around his ankle. He fell heavily to the ground, then got up and looked back at what stopped him. There was a cuff around his ankle. Made of some sort of white material, connecting him to the floor by a tether made of some flexible half-transparent material. He grabbed onto the tether—felt like plastic—and tried making a knife from magic to slash through it—

Pain raced up his leg and he cried out, collapsing to the floor. What was that?! It must have come from the cuff. But—it looked normal—or as normal as a cuff with a tether could be. How did that happen?

JJ shook his head and tried to push back the panic. He looked around the room, really taking it in for the first time. This was a small room—tiny, really—with white plastic-looking walls and. To his left was a bed, and to his right was a small alcove blocked off by a curtain. Judging by the length of the tether, both of these would be in reach. But the door is too far, the wall in front of him much farther away. The room is rectangular and he’s stuck at one end. Two cameras dangle from the ceiling, in diagonal corners.

And then Jameson looked down at himself. What the hell?! He wasn’t wearing his clothes anymore. Instead, he was wearing a white shirt-and-pants combination that reminded him vaguely of hospital scrubs. When did that happen?! Why did that happen?!

He staggered to his feet. Just to check, he tried a small spell, something to just conjure a few dancing lights—and another shock of pain rushed up from the cuff, sending him slumping back against the wall, breathing heavily. Okay—so no magic. At all. Good to know.

Where was he? The last thing that happened was that man in the white coat throwing that device in the hospital room, filling it with sweet smoke. IRIS. He remembered the logo on the sleeve. So—this must be some sort of IRIS facility, then? The same people who’d done all that to Schneep. What were they planning to do to Jameson? What were they planning to do to the rest of his friends?

Jameson began to hyperventilate. He tried to stop, pressing a hand against his chest, but he couldn’t help it. Tears came to the corners of his eyes, filling his vision, blurring it. It would be fine. It would be fine. It would be fine. It would be fine. He had to believe it would be fine.

But he didn’t believe it at all.

———————

Schneep woke up staring at a blank white ceiling. And yet, despite how featureless the ceiling above was, he instantly knew where he is. He sat up, gasping, and looked around. This room—it wasn’t the same room where they kept him. That room would be burned into his mind forever, a tiny space no bigger than a jail cell with walls made of a strange white material. This room was slightly bigger than that. It had an actual bed instead of a cot attached to the wall. There was an alcove blocked off with a curtain. And there were two cameras attached to the ceiling in diagonal corners. The shape of the room was strange, a long rectangle with him at one end.

He got to his feet quickly, and noticed a pull around his ankle. There was a cuff attaching him to the floor. A white cuff, with a translucent tether. He crouched down again and tugged at it experimentally. It felt solid. And tight against his ankle, too. He couldn't even get a finger underneath—

Wait a second. What was he wearing? These weren’t his clothes! But he did recognize the white pants and shirt. They gave him the same sort of clothes the first time.

He pushed down his fear and stared up into the nearest camera. “W-well—what are you going to do now?!” he demanded. “I thought you were done with me! Weren’t you? I-I heard your white coats say that! D-did you change your mind?” It was a useless question, he knew. Just because IRIS considered him ‘completed’ didn’t mean they were done with him. They were doing this for a purpose.

After a moment of staring at the camera, watching the red light blink, he started walking around, testing the limit of the tether. He could get to the bed and the alcove—which turned out to be a crude bathroom—easily enough. But he couldn’t get to the door. Not even close. He even tried lying on his stomach and stretching out, but his fingers couldn’t even brush the metal.

...he was trapped again.

His heart was pounding in his chest, but he tried not to panic as he got up and walked back over to the bed. He stared up into the camera once more. “Y-you should actually take care of me this time, at least,” he said. “Whatever you want from me, I will be of no use to you if I am suffering.”

He wasn’t expecting an answer. And he didn’t get one.

He couldn’t freak out. He couldn’t break down. The cameras were always watching, and if IRIS saw him break down, they would win. Or—not literally. They probably didn’t care at all about his mental state. But it would mean that they really were affecting him. And he wouldn’t let them have that.

Though the fear inside him was enough to make his hands shake, Schneep laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. He tried not to move. He tried to breathe slowly.

———————

Jackie wasn’t sure how much time passed. There was no clock in the room. And nothing to do. He couldn’t even count the seconds. All he could do was pace in circles as the anxiety mounted.

And then the door opened, and a man walked inside. Jackie whirled around at the sound of the lock turning, and stood there, frozen, as the man closed the door behind him, sat down at the desk, and took out a clipboard. He fiddled with the camera on the tripod and then turned back around. “Hello, Dr. Parker.”

Jackie blinked. “Um... do I... know you?”

“No, but I have read your file, Dr. Parker,” the man said. “You were employed at IRIS recently.”

“‘Were’?”

“Well. Wouldn’t you say running from a compound and taking experimental MR technology with you is grounds for termination?” The man said it in a joking manner, but it just caused a pit of anxiety in Jackie’s stomach. “Please sit down.”

Slowly, Jackie walked over and sat down in the free chair.

“The date is February 29th, 2020, we are interviewing Dr. Jackie Parker,” the man said.

“Um... who are you, by the way?” Jackie asked, trying to hide his concern that a day had passed since IRIS found them in the hospital.

“You can call me Daniel, Dr. Parker. Dr. Parker is a 5 foot 9 inch white man in his early 30s. Dr. Parker was employed at IRIS until February 26th, at which point he fled the compound where he was living, taking with him a prototype MR Headset Pair. He was accompanied by an unknown anomaly and escaped EX subject 1-019—”

“Is that what you’re calling Schneep?!” Jackie gasped.

“Subject 1-019 has since been recaptured,” Daniel continued. He put the clipboard down and looked at Jackie. “Dr. Parker, we have some questions for you.”

“I—I-I—” Jackie stammered. “Am I... W-what are you going to do to me? What are you going to do to my friends?”

“That entirely depends on how you answer these questions, Dr. Parker,” Daniel said calmly.

Jackie stared at him, unsure what to say. He could feel his heart about to pound out of his ribcage.

“Dr. Parker, can you explain why you took the MR Headset Pair that you were entrusted with?” Daniel asked.

“I...” Jackie hesitated. It... would probably be good to tell the truth, right? “I... thought they could help... my friends. F-from ALTR 53815. Or I guess, from the creature attached to it.” To IRIS, the house on Aspen Street was the true anomaly, and Distorter was a side effect.

“I see.” Daniel wrote something down. “Did you use the Headset Pair in the time since you fled the compound?”

“Y-yes.”

“For what?”

“I... managed to go into my friend Anti’s head,” Jackie said quietly. “He was... in some sort of trance. Caused by the ALTR creature. A-and he was being made to... try and hurt people. So... I went into his head and woke him up.”

“I see.” Daniel wrote another thing down. “You’re referring to the man called ‘Anti’ McLoughlin?”

“Yes.”

“Did you have any contact with ALTR 53815 or 53815-A in the time since you fled the compound?”

“N...no. I don’t think so.” His friends had been the ones to fight off Distorter. He had just stayed in the hospital room.

“I see.” Daniel nodded. “Dr. Parker, when did you come into contact with EX subject 1-019?”

“D-don’t call him that,” Jackie whispered, hands curling into fists by his sides.

“Apologies, Dr. Parker,” Daniel said, sounding not sincere at all. “Now, can you please answer the question?”

“I’m serious. Th-that’s fucked up! It’s really fucked up!” Jackie shook his head. “I know everything you did to him now! A-and I don’t know what you did to Anti, but I can guess!”

“Dr. Parker, when did you come into contact with EX subject 1-019?”

Jackie took a deep breath. Getting angry wouldn’t help anything. He knew that. If he made IRIS angry, they might... well, he’s not sure what they might do. But better safe than sorry, right? “I knew him... before,” he said quietly. “But that was... the first time I’d seen him in... god, it must’ve been weeks.”

Daniel nodded. “And when did you come into contact with that anomaly who was also there that day?”

“The... a-are you talking about Jameson?” Jackie whispered.

“The anomaly was in the form of a 5 foot 9 inch white male with brown hair and facial hair, often giving off blue light,” Daniel explained.

“You... are talking about him.” Jackie’s eyes widened. “He’s not some anomaly, h-he’s a person!”

“He is a person with an anomalous form of energy,” Daniel said.

“Where is he? Wh-where are all of them?!” Jackie leaned forward. “Where are my friends?!”

“They are safe, Dr. Parker, as are you,” Daniel said.

“I don’t believe you.” Jackie shook his head. “I don’t fucking believe you.”

“When did you first come in contact with the anomaly who was also there that day?” Daniel repeated.

“I—I-it was years ago! We’ve known each other for years! That’s how I know he’s a person, not an anomaly—though I guess you don’t need to know someone for years to know that they’re a fucking human being!”

Daniel stared at him quietly for a moment. Then he put the clipboard down and folded his arms. “Jackie. IRIS is very disappointed in you.”

“Disappointed?!” Jackie repeated in disbelief.

“We really could have helped you contain ALTR 53815 and its peripheral anomaly. If you had simply asked to use the MR Headsets, we would have granted permission. There was no need to steal them.”

For a split second, Jackie was taken aback. For a split second, he wondered if he made a mistake running off, if he could have worked with IRIS around all this. But then the image of Schneep begging him to leave, screaming about what IRIS had done to his body, flasheD through his mind. And that doubt evaporated. “You guys... y-you’re experimenting on people,” Jackie whispered. “And not just by testing your tech out on them. You’re going so far beyond that. I... I couldn’t stay here. I couldn’t.”

Daniel sighed, like a parent with a child who just hadn’t learned their lesson. “Alright, Dr. Parker. We’ll speak with you again later.” He stood up.

“H-hey!” Jackie shot to his feet as well. “What’s happened to my friends?! Are they also going through this?! Or did you ship them off to whatever place Schneep was trapped in?!”

“Get some rest, Dr. Parker,” Daniel said, hurrying over to the door.

“Tell me!” Jackie screamed, running after him—but he’s not fast enough. Daniel closed the door quickly, locking it just as Jackie slammed into it and grabbed the doorknob.

Jackie shuddered. He sank to the ground, gasping, trying to push back tears.

———————

Marvin only realized he’d fallen asleep again when he was jolted awake by the sound of the door opening. He lifted his head and saw a woman in a white coat walk into the room, her curly blonde hair held back by a headband, carrying a tripod under her arm. She smiled at him. “Hello there.”

“...hello?” Marvin said, confused.

The woman set up the tripod next to the table and sat down at one of the chairs. “Can you please come sit with me?”

Marvin sat up slowly. He tested out his legs—but found that not enough time had passed. He winced. “Ah... d’you mind if I stay over here?”

“You’re out of view of the interview camera over there, unfortunately,” the woman said.

“...huh. I don’ t’ink you understan’, I-I can’ walk that far righ’ now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the woman said. “But we do need you over here.”

Marvin stared at her. She said nothing else. A quiet sort of anger curled around his stomach. Fine, then. He took a deep breath and scooted over to the end of the bed closest to the wall, reaching out and grabbing it to pull himself up. His legs still wobbled, but with the help of the wall he managed to get over to the table, stumbling the last couple steps he took crossing the open floor and practically running into the chair. He adjusted his position, then leaned onto the table, staring at the woman with narrowed eyes.

“Thank you so much,” she said, smiling. Then she looked down at her clipboard. “The date is February 29th, 2020, we are interviewing an unknown man. Please introduce yourself for the camera, sir.”

“...Marvin. Marvin Moore,” he said slowly.

“Mr. Moore is a 5 foot 11 inch white male with brown hair and weakened muscles, especially in the legs, likely as a result of childhood illness,” the woman said.

Marvin tensed. “How d’you know about t’at?”

“He was caught with Dr. Jackie Parker, a former IRIS employee who took confidential IRIS technology from a compound, as well as ‘Anti’ McLoughlin, a subject exposed to ALTR 53815, an unknown anomaly, and escaped EX subject 1-019, all of whom have since been captured—”

“I’m sorry?!” Marvin gasped.

“Mr. Moore also had an anomaly in his person, in the form of a deck of cards with strange designs on the back,” the woman said.

“My cards!” Marvin leaned forward. “You took them from me! Why?”

“Because, Mr. Moore, anomalies such as that could be dangerous,” the woman said personally.

“N-no, those aren’—those are mine, I-I know how they work,” Marvin protested. “They’re not dangerous at all.”

“We cannot be sure about that, Mr. Moore,” the woman said, her tone condescendingly gentle. “It’s better safe than sorry.”

“But... they’re... they’re mine,” Marvin said numbly, unsure how to protest this.

“Are they, Mr. Moore?” the woman asked. “Because we did some cursory tests and research on these cards. They’re styled in the manner of cards printed several decades ago, but the material they’re made of only seems to be ten years old at most.”

“Ah...” Marvin hesitated. Every instinct told him that IRIS shouldn’t know the reality of his situation. Of where he came from. Or, rather, when he came from. “They’re... replicas. I-I bought them at a tiny shop some years ago.”

“Do you remember the name of the shop?”

Marvin shook his head. It wasn’t a lie. He really didn’t remember. He’d never been back to the shop after buying the cards, either.

“I see.” The woman nodded. “Mr. Moore, have you ever heard of ALTR 53815?”

“I... don’ t’ink so?” He said, confused.

“When did you first come into contact with ALTR 53815?”

“I—I don’ know, I can’ know anyt’ing unless I know what that ‘alter’ thing is, can I?”

The woman hummed, then started to get up. “Well. We’ll be seeing you, Mr. Moore.”

“Wait, wait.” He leaned forward, reaching out, asking her to stop. “Ye can’ expect me to jus’ stay in here! What abou’ my friends?! Where are they?”

“They are safe, Mr. Moore, don’t worry,” the woman said. “No doubt undergoing the same thing you are.”

“And what am I undergoing?!” Marvin demanded. “Why am I in here?! I’m not—not’ing has happened to me!”

“Get some rest, Mr. Moore, you’ll have a busy day tomorrow.” The woman smiled at him, then headed for the door.

“Wait! You can’ jus’ leave me here!” Marvin pushed himself up with the help of the table. “Not without some answers!”

“We’ll be back soon, Mr. Moore,” the woman said cheerfully and quickly walked over to the door. Marvin stood where he was and watched her leave, locking the door behind her. A vague sense of despair pooled in his stomach as he made his way back to the bed to lie down.

———————

When the door finally opened, Jameson’s face was streaked with panicked tears as he sat up against the bed with his knees drawn up to his chest. He quickly wiped his face as best he could before looking over towards it. A woman in a white coat walked into the room, her black hair cut in a pixie style. Two people came in with her, wearing black uniforms with helmets that covered their features. Guards. What did Jackie say they were called? Right, C&C. He couldn’t remember what that stood for right now. Had Jackie even explained that?

“Please stand up,” the woman said, her face blank and completely empty of emotion.

JJ stared at her, uncomprehending for a moment.

“Please stand up,” she said again. “Cooperation is necessary.”

Shivers crawled along his skin. He slowly got up, and the woman hurried towards him, taking something out of her pocket. Before he could react, she was right by him, measuring him—because that small object from her pocket turned out to be an extendable measuring tape. She grabbed his arms, measuring their length, wrapped it around his chest, then his waist, put the end on the ground and measured his legs, then wrapped it around his wrists, ankles, and neck. All before he could so much as process what she was doing. Then she stepped back again.

Excuse me? JJ signed, and then realized that these people might not know BSL. He’d have to use his voice, wouldn’t he? Well, then he should choose what to say carefully since his throat would hurt quickly.

The woman put the measuring tape away and pulled something else out. Some sort of handheld device; it reminded JJ of the geiger counters seen in movies and games. She pointed it at him, moving it up and down—scanning him.

“Ex...cuse me?” JJ asked in his hoarse voice. “What are you doing?”

She didn’t answer, but her eyes did flick down to his neck, where the faint scars of Distorter’s attack could still be seen.

“What are you doing?” JJ asked again.

Still not answering, the woman put the handheld device away and took something else out—a syringe of some kind, though it was a bit bulkier than any syringe Jameson had ever seen. She reached for his arm and Jameson immediately balked, yanking his arm away. “Please cooperate,” she said, walking closer.

He backed up into the wall, shaking his head. “Can—can you explain?!” His voice cracked with fear on the last word. He didn’t want them to inject him with anything!

“If you do not cooperate, we will use force,” the woman said calmly. Behind her, the C&C guards stepped forward.

Jameson’s eyes darted to them, then back to the woman. With his magic not working, he’d be no match for either of them. And though he really wants to try and shield himself somehow, he doesn’t want to be shocked—or whatever it was—either. So, reluctantly, he held out his arm.

The woman took it, plunging the syringe into the crook of his arm. JJ gasped in surprise as it hurt far more than expected. And soon the empty vial of the syringe filled up with red liquid. His blood. They’d taken his blood, and done it surprisingly quickly. Drawing blood usually took at least thirty seconds, but that was barely five, if even that at all. She quickly stepped back, tapping the side of the syringe and squinting at the blood within.

“What... are you doing?” Jameson asked again. “Please. Tell me.”

No answer. The woman turned around, heading back towards the door.

“Please!” Jameson shouted, then coughed as pain scraped through his throat.

The woman didn’t even look back at him as he coughed furiously. She simply opened the door and left, the two C&C guards going with her.

As JJ stared at the door as it closed, a bit of uncharacteristic anger curled around his stomach. He couldn’t believe that they were doing this to him. Were they doing something like this to his friends? Why?! What did they ever do to deserve this?!

But then the door locked, and the anger was quickly snuffed out by fear. He sank back down to the ground and tried not to fall back into panic. What did IRIS want with him? Were they... going to do the same thing to him that they did to Schneep? Why did they even do that to him in the first place? Did they want to make Schneep a weapon? Were they going to make Jameson into one as well?

He buried his head in his arms, thoughts spinning through his mind, drawing him into a whirlpool of anxiety that he couldn’t swim back out of.

———————

Schneep’s eyes snapped open the moment he heard the door open. He sat up straight and saw two guards in black uniform walk into the room, followed by a guard wearing a uniform with white highlights and a redheaded man in a white coat. Schneep recognized that man instantly. He’d come to think of him as a “handler,” of sorts, as he was the one Schneep had most seen during his first captivity here—the scientist who worked with him most often. And he did use the phrase “worked with him” in the most literal way. “You,” Schneep growled.

“Hello 1-019,” the handler said calmly. “Before you say anything, I will tell you that we have a disabling signal ready at the first sign of aggression. It has since been proven to work, as you no doubt remember.”

Schneep clenched his fists and glared, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to experience the signal again. He didn’t want to feel so helpless.

The handler paused, gauging his reaction. “Thank you,” he said, as soon as it became clear that Schneep wouldn’t be fighting back. “Now stand up.”

Slowly, Schneep did so, standing stiff and straight as a pole. The handler walked over and took out some sort of measuring tape, using it to measure out Schneep’s height, then the length of his limbs, then the circumference of his chest, waist, wrists, ankle, and neck. Schneep tried not to show his discomfort. Tried not to squirm or shudder or shout as this happened. Though as the measuring tape went around his neck he was barely able to restrain himself from shoving the handler away. He trembled, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, forcing back the rage and sick panic that filled his whole body.

The handler stepped back, retracting the measuring tape and putting it back into his pocket. He then pulled out a syringe instead. “Arm.”

“Fuck you,” Schneep whispered, but held out his arm anyway.

“Stay calm, 1-019,” the handler said as he drew blood from the crook of Schneep’s arm. “You will be safe.”

“S-sure, of course,” Schneep muttered. He did believe him, in some way. IRIS wouldn’t want all their hard work to go to waste, would they?

The handler finished with the syringe, putting it back into his pocket. Then he held out his hand and looked back at the guards. One of the ones in black walked on over, and Schneep noticed for the first time that he was holding a small black briefcase. The guard opened it up, and the handler reached in and took out a small handheld device connected to the interior of the briefcase by a black coiled wire. The other briefcase lid flickered on, revealing itself to be a screen of some kind. “Stay still,” the handler said, and began scanning Schneep with the device.

Schneep did stay still, if only because his eyes were locked onto the screen on the inside of the briefcase lid. This was some sort of X-ray machine. He could see a live feed of his bones as the handler scanned him from the feet up. His bones... and all the other things inside him. Darker gray shapes running parallel to the white of his bones, tiny gray lines running through his muscles. As the scan reached his hands, he saw flat circles under his palms and fingertips, connected together with thin wires. Then it reached his torso, where his stomach and chest were crowded with gray shapes, and up to his head, where he could see small squares in a couple places around his skull.

Sick horror filled his stomach, climbing up his neck towards his mouth. It was all he could do to keep standing there and not collapse to his knees.

The handler finished and put the handheld scanner back into the briefcase. The screen flicked off and the guard closed it. “We will examine that later,” the handler said. “Get comfortable, 1-019. We will return later once we have finished your assessment.”

Schneep nodded slowly.

And with that, the handler and the three guards left him.

He stood there for a while, the X-ray’s images still flashing through his mind.

———————

Anti didn’t know how much time he spent waiting for something to happen. It must have been a long, long time, though, as he had worn out all forms of entertaining himself. The bouncy ball had lost its allure a while ago, and he tired himself out by trying to exercise. He fell asleep for a while. Then woke up, and found himself still alone.

He looked up at the camera. “So... you guys are uh... just gonna leave me this time, then? What’re you even doing?”

There was, of course, no response.

“Last time I was here, an alarm went off, didn’t it?” Anti recalled. “You were going to move me somewhere. But now I’m back in this room. So... whatever happened was taken care of, was it?” He paused, struggling to remember what happened. His memories were crowded by the long dream Distorter had kept him in.

Distorter.

Anti’s eyes widened and he stood up. “Oh fuck. He killed a lot of your guys, didn’t he? Or—maybe he controlled you to kill each other?” He laughed. “Seems like something he would do.”

He walked over to the chair and climbed on top of it so he could stare closer at the camera. “Are you waiting for him to show up again?” he asked. “Is that why I’m back in here? Am I the bait?”

Somehow, that felt right.

“Then... what happened to the others?” he asked. “Did you take them for bait, too? Are they somewhere in here, too?!” He shook his head. “You’re probably real fucking interested in Jackson, aren’t you?” he muttered.

He got off the chair. “Well fine! You win for now! But I swear, you’ve gotten in over your head! We’ll find a way out of here!”

He wasn’t sure how much he believed that. But he held onto it. He just needed to find a way to contact the others. If they could find each other, they could get out of here. They would get out of here. He refused to consider anything else.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #antisepticeye #programmer anti #jackieboy man #dr jackie parker #marvin the magnificent #1920s marvin #jameson jackson #the jaunty jackson #dr schneeplestein #von voltage #brigid writes fanfiction #septicswitchau

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crystalninjaphoenix · 3 months

Text

The Morning is Sure to Come

Fantasy Masks AU: Chapter Thirty-Four

A JSE Fanfic

A lot of stuff happens in this one, and I'm not really sure how to describe it. Chase talks with his kids some more, and then falls asleep and has another dream with Jack, where he learns some more about the situation that was revealed last time. And meanwhile, Henrik, Jackie, and Marvin are getting close to Suilthair and scouting it out, looking for Chase and Jameson. Huh. Guess it wasn't as difficult as I thought. Anyway, with the summary done, I'll leave you to it. Enjoy! :D

Previous Part | | From the Start | More AU

Taglist: @brokentimewatch

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two more days, and Chase and Jameson were still stuck hiding in the abandoned boathouse. They passed the time with Chase giving Jameson lessons on some combat maneuvers. It was strange without actual weapons, but Jameson appreciated it nonetheless. Surprisingly, he remembered a lot of these moves, either from his time at Wyvernlair or his youth when he was learning self-defense. But he was a bit rusty actually going through the motions.

“There has to be somewhere to get weapons in the city,” Chase muttered. “At this point, I think I can go out without too much suspicion. If I’m careful and come right back.”

Do you have any money? Jameson asked. I don’t, and I know weapons shops have high security.

“Damn. You’re right. It’s too risky to steal them. I could ask Amabel for money—no, I don’t want to do that.” Chase shook his head. “She’d probably take it from Stacia, a-and she might get in trouble, and I don’t want that.”

It’s fine, Jameson said. We’re doing well enough without them.

“For now,” Chase muttered. “Eventually we need to find a way off this island. And when we make our escape, we need to be prepared for a fight.”

Even though they couldn’t go out into town to get weapons, Chase started going around for other reasons. Gathering more information, mostly. Trying to find that way out of Suilthair. If there was one good thing about the week he wasted wandering around the city, it was that he developed a reputation. The common folk recognized him. They knew he was one of them and that the biggest danger he posed to anyone was asking for money. There was no reason to report someone like him to the royal warriors. He was pretty harmless in their eyes. Chase still had to worry about avoiding patrols, but at least he didn’t have to worry about everything.

Unfortunately, nobody he talked to knew of any way out of Suilthair besides the ferry. They were all quite insistent on that. Chase wondered if this was, perhaps, caused by the King’s enchantment influence. Maybe by making people want to stay in the city, he made them forget anything besides the official ferries? But surely there had to be smugglers or something. Who was he supposed to ask about that? Probably people who were more dangerous than the average cityfolk. Were they desperate enough to do that yet? No... maybe not. But in a couple more days, they might be.

Amabel continued to stop by every morning and evening. Chase was always happy to see her, even if he was getting more and more worried. If she kept doing this, someone would eventually notice where she was going. “Amy, are you sure this is safe?” he asked.

“Mm-hmm.” Amabel nodded. “I’m sure.”

“Alright,” Chase said hesitantly. “But if it gets too dangerous, if people see you come here, I want you to stop.”

Amabel blinked. “Huh? No, I’m not gonna stop.”

“Amabel, I’m serious,” Chase said firmly. “What me and Jameson are doing is really dangerous, we don’t want you caught up in it.”

“You haven’t even told me what it’s all about!”

“Because you’re safer if you don’t know anything,” Chase said. He paused for a moment, trying to think about a way to explain that there was a chance the King could hear her thoughts if she got in too much trouble. “The people we’re up against have ways—magical ways—to find stuff out, even if you’re very, very careful. But if you really don’t know what they’re talking about, then they can’t do anything.”

Amabel stared at him. “Do you mean they’d hurt me?”

Chase was quiet for a moment. He didn’t want to tell his daughter that yes, the people out there would hurt her. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe.” When the King sent the warriors to their home, they didn’t kill the children. But he wasn’t sure if that was because the King—or, the spirit controlling the King, as he had to remind himself—really didn’t want to cross that line, or if it was simply because he was focusing on eliminating the adult man who would defeat him one day.

Amabel was also quiet upon hearing that. Then she nodded. “Okay. I promise I’ll stop coming to see you if I think people see me. I don’t want anything to happen to Quentin or Mom without me.”

Chase gives her a small, sad smile. “You know you don’t have to be responsible for them, right?”

“Yeah, but... I wanna be there,” Amabel said slowly. “To, uh... Because...” She trailed off, unable to put words to the feelings she had.

Because you care about them? Jameson asked.

“Yea! Thank you, uh, Mr. Jameson,” Amabel said. “Oh. Dad. Quentin wants to come by tomorrow morning. Remember, you said I could bring him?”

“O-of course I remember,” Chase said. “Be very careful, it’ll be worse if both of you get in trouble.”

“Don’t worry, I can do it,” Amabel promised.

“Okay. In that case, I’ll see both of you tomorrow.”

The rest of that day passed without much of note, and tomorrow morning, Jameson shook Chase awake a bit earlier than normal. Your children are coming, he said, pointing to the ajar boathouse door.

Chase got up quickly and opened the door fully. It was a cloudy day today, but not gloomy. Even with the weak early morning light he could clearly see Amabel walking down the wooden walkway towards the boathouse, holding her brother’s hand in hers. Quentin waved at Chase, smiling when he saw him, and almost shouted a greeting before Amabel leaned close and murmured something to him.

Your children are both so cute, Jameson said, smiling.

“Hah. Thanks. Quentin takes more after his mother, y’know. He has her hair exactly.”

The kids walked up to the boathouse door, and the moment they were inside Quentin shouted, “DAD!” and tackled Chase in a hug.

“Whoa!” Chase pretended to stumble back from the force of the hug, then laughed and leaned down to hug his son. “Hey, Quen. Wow, you’ve gotten so much bigger and stronger.”

“Really?!” Quentin beamed. He looked over at Jameson. “Hi! Bellie says your name is Jameson and you speak in hands. Is that true?!”

Jameson chuckled silently and nodded. Can you understand me?

“Uh... I think you asked if I know handspeak, and I mean, a little. Bellie is better at it.”

“That’s me.” Amabel raised her hand.

Thank you, young lady, I did think that’s what he meant.

“Heh.” Amabel grinned.

“I’m so happy to see you, Dad!” Quentin squeezed him tighter.

“I’m so happy to see you, too.” Chase wrapped his arms around Quentin and lifted him into the air, causing him to shriek with delight. He was a bit too big for this to be easy, but Chase didn’t care, if he could make it work he would. “Now, did Amabel tell you that I’m not staying forever?”

Quentin nodded. “She said you were really busy and that you couldn’t talk about it because it’s secret, even from Mom. Is that why Mom is mad at you? Because she doesn’t like secrets?”

“...hah.” Chase gave a sad little smile. “Your Mom doesn’t even know about the secret. She thinks that I left you guys because I wanted to. But I didn’t.” He blinked back tears. “I promise, I didn’t want to leave you guys. I’ve been trying to find you for a long time.”

“Why can’t we come with you?” Quentin asked, whining a little.

“Because this is grown-up stuff, Quentin. It’s no place for someone like you.”

“Because I’m too sick all the time?” Quentin grumbled.

“No, that’s not it at all.” Chase shook his head. “I’m not letting Amabel come, either. The problem is that you’re both too little. It’s not something shallow like you getting sick. I’ve told you, that doesn’t change what you can want to do.”

“Hmmm.” Quentin frowned, a thoughtful expression on his little face, then nodded. “Okaaaay... I get it. But I really miss you, Dad.”

“I know, I miss you so much, too.” Chase looked at Amabel. “Both of you.” Then he set Quentin down. “I have to leave soon, you know. It might be really sudden. I might not have the chance to say goodbye. Do you two know that?”

Amabel nodded slowly. Quentin looked at her and nodded as well. But maybe he was just copying what she did.

“If that happens, it’s not because I don’t love you two, or your mom,” Chase continued. “It’s not because I don’t want to be around you or because I don’t miss you or because I’d rather be doing something else. It’s just... really unlucky that I had to leave and couldn’t say bye. This thing I’m doing is important. Not more important than you, in my mind, but it’s very important to a lot of people. And it’ll help you guys, too, though you might not understand how.”

“Okay, Dad,” Amabel said, nodding again more firmly.

“So... Mom is wrong?” Quentin asked.

Chase hesitated. “Mom isn’t really wrong, she’s just... made a mistake. But that’s okay.”

“Oh.” Quentin nodded along with Amabel again.

Chase laughed a little. “You two look like little chickens with your heads bobbing like that,” he said teasingly.

“Wha—Da-ad!” Amabel put her hands on her hips, while Quentin giggled at the image. “Fine, Dad, I guess I’m not gonna give you this food.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Amy. It was just a joke.”

Amabel sighed. “I know. Here. We can have breakfast together. Or, I guess it’ll be a snack for us, we already ate.”

The group sat on the wooden floor of the boathouse and ate together. Quentin asked Jameson a lot of questions, and Chase translated Jameson’s handspeak answers when the boy struggled with them. Then, after what felt like a too-short time, Amabel and Quentin got up, said their goodbyes, and Amabel promised to see them again that evening. Chase watched them go, waving, trying not to show his sadness. As soon as they were out of sight, he fully closed the door, sighing.

Everything alright, Chase? Jameson asked.

“It just... gets harder to see them,” Chase said quietly. “Knowing that eventually, I’ll have to say goodbye again. I get this pang of... of grief.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “Right here. And it gets stronger every time.”

Jameson looked at him sadly. You know... my father once told me not to borrow grief from the future. I don’t think I understood what he meant until now.

“What did he mean?” Chase asked, confused.

You’re not leaving them yet, Chase, Jameson said. You will, but you’re not leaving them right now. You’ll just hurt yourself thinking about it. And you won’t be able to treasure this time together if you’re hurt.

Chase blinked. Something about that went straight into his core, hitting a ball of something that he didn’t even realize was there. “That... that makes sense,” he whispered. “Thanks, Jameson.”

Jameson smiled. Happy to help in any way.

The rest of the day passed as normal. Chase briefly wandered around a bit, returning by the time Amabel visited in the evening. Then he and Jameson talked about more possibilities of escape. But they were running short on topics, having already talked about this for so long, that they ended up going to bed early. Chase took the first watch. And when it was his time to sleep, he fell asleep right away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the first day of boating up the river, the group of Phantoms had to switch boats. The flatbed boat they’d used for traveling the Moors would be no good on the Muinra Avon. It wouldn’t be able to handle the more intense waves and deeper waters. Instead, they used a boat that looked like a miniature ship, once again borrowing it from a small group of people. They weren’t Phantoms, but they must have been sympathetic to the cause. Or maybe they were paid really well and were smart enough to not ask questions.

Henrik was in a bit of a daze for the whole trip. Not because of his symptoms, for once. It was hard to believe that he and Vsevna were really officially courting. And yet it was true. Something that Vsevna reminded him of on the morning of the fourth day of the trip by sneaking up on him and kissing him on the cheek. “Morning, sova.”

“Ah!” Henrik’s face turned very red. “Morning, Vsevna.” He couldn’t help the smile spreading across his mouth. “I, ah, I-I hear that we will be arriving at Suilthair today.”

“In the evening, yes.” Vsevna nodded. “We will have to talk about what to do there some more. But for now, we can enjoy the journey.”

“Indeed.” Henrik hesitated, then reached out and took Vsevna’s hand. “Do you want to show me around the new boat?”

Vsevna’s eye lit up. “Of course.”

The scenery passed surprisingly quickly, even though they were heading the opposite direction of the current. One of the sailors, Talinir, mentioned something about having a favorable wind. Jackie and Marvin spent most of their time on the deck, with Jackie continuing the training he was doing on the ship. Marvin just sat around, watching the sailors. Jackie tried to tease him for a moment about how he was watching one of the sailors, Mona, quite a lot, but Marvin just muttered something about how he had a cat mask first and how it just looked strange when two people whose names started with the M sound had the same kind of mask. “We look like we’re a pair, but I’ve never seen her before.” So Jackie shrugged that off, a bit sad that he couldn’t tease both his friends for having sweethearts.

Around late afternoon, the boat stopped for a moment, lowering its anchor. The Phantoms gathered in the center of the deck to discuss a plan. “I mentioned this a couple days ago,” Marvin said, “but I have the ability to see through my familiar’s eyes.” He pointed to Draco, lying in a patch of sunlight on the deck. “I think we need to use this somehow.”

“A way to scout the city?” one of the sailors, Jiro, suggested. The others murmured in agreement.

“Great idea, but how are we going to get Draco into Suilthair?” Jackie asked. “Can he just... find his way?”

“It is easy for small animals like cats and rats to get on ships without knowing,” Vsevna said. “I’m sure Draco could get onto the ferry easily enough.”

“Once he is in there, what are we going to look for?” Henrik asked. “Obviously we must find Chase and Jameson. But it is a big city, how will we know where to look? I do not think a cat could cover all of its ground in a single day.”

Marvin nodded slowly. “It doesn’t cost too much of my magic to look through his eyes. But if I keep it up consistently, that constant drain could stack up. But if you’re worried about leaving Draco alone in the city, I’m sure he’ll be fine. Familiars aren’t normal animals. I’m sure the only danger to him would be other familiars.”

“Even so... we cannot have you focusing on that all the time,” Henrik said. “You must rest sometimes.”

“What if we send Draco on one of the morning ferries, have him look around all day, and then come back on an evening ferry?” a sailor named Anya suggested. “That way Marvin could get some rest at night.”

Marvin nodded again. “I’m capable of that. But say that Draco finds Chase or Jameson. What then?”

“We have to have some way of communicating with them,” Jackie muttered. “Attach a note to his collar?”

“We don’t want any of the warriors reading it, though,” a sailor named Catherine points out. “D’you think we could write it in code?”

“I do not think that would work,” Henrik muttered. “Chase struggles with reading even now, and Jameson does not know any of our codes. They could both make mistakes.”

“Is there some magic that could work?” Jackie looked at Marvin specifically as he asked that.

“Wizards have ways of talking with each other over long distances, but it requires that all parties are wizards,” Marvin said. “I’m sure there’s some witchcraft that could work, though. I think I remember hearing about people in Drakild, that kingdom across the sea, using... stones, or something?”

“Message rocks,” Vsevna said. “I have also heard of them. I think I remember some of the runes you need for them.”

“Huh. Alright, Vsevna, you and me talk about this, maybe we can figure out the runes between us,” Marvin said. “And Henrik, you too. You’re familiar with witchcraft, you should be able to tell us if something makes sense or not.”

“That could work,” Henrik muttered. “We attach a message rock to Draco’s collar, and if he finds Chase and Jameson, they can use it. But... what if he does not find them? What if something has happened? Such as... I-I do not want to say it, but such as the King getting to them—”

“Shut up.”

Henrik flinched, avoiding the urge to look over his shoulder at the voice. He knew no one was standing behind him. He knew that. But... what if... what if there was someone on the shore? Someone listening in on their conversation?

Jackie put a hand on Henrik’s shoulder, steadying him. “Deep breaths,” he whispered. Henrik nodded. “You good?” Another nod. “Okay.” Jackie turned to face the group at large. “If the King’s got Chase and Jameson, we’ll have to make a plan to get them out. And that plan will depend a lot on whatever information we can gather. Such as where they’re being kept and what the defenses of that place is. Right now, we’re just in the initial planning and scouting phase. If it turns out they’re in hiding, we then have to plan on a way to get them out of the city, ideally without confrontation.”

The group all muttered in agreement. “We should get started as soon as possible,” Vsevna said. “Hopefully we can get these message rocks done in time to get Draco onto the evening ferry.”

They did, though just barely in time. By combining Vsevna and Marvin’s knowledge they’d heard about these message rocks with Henrik’s practical knowledge about witchcraft, they were able to create two talismans out of smooth, white pebbles with runes on them. Some of the sailors fashioned a small leather pouch for one of the rocks and attached it to Draco’s collar. He didn’t seem too happy about it at first, but he tolerated it.

Then the boat docked on the shore of the Green Lake. Marvin dropped Draco off on the land, giving him magical instructions to get onto the ferry and into the city, then activated the spell to see through his eyes, sitting down on the deck while he did so.

As Vsevna had said, it was easy enough for Draco to get onto the evening ferry. He hopped aboard at the last moment, and none of the crew or passengers had the heart to kick him off into the lake. And so, he got a free ride into Suilthair.

Marvin tried to think about where Chase and Jameson would be, if they were indeed in hiding and not captured. They wouldn’t be foolish enough to get an inn. And they probably wouldn’t want to be too close to the castle. “The neighborhoods, Draco,” he muttered, clutching his focus in his hand. Though his eyes and ears were seeing and hearing what his cat was, he could still feel his body sitting on the deck where he left it, and he could feel his amulet warming with magic. “Focus on checking out the neighborhoods.”

He knew he could keep up this spell all night. But he did hope that he wouldn’t have to keep it up for multiple nights in a row.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For once, when Chase woke up in the draísling, he wasn't in the garden he’s used to. It really threw him off for a second, and he wondered if this is a normal dream. But just thinking that question proved his point. He wasn’t this aware in normal dreams. So he looked around the location, trying to assess things. This was a hallway. A regal-looking hallway. It must have been one in the castle, but it looks different. Newer, somehow, the stone brighter and the tapestries fewer, but less worn. He tried getting a good look at them, but their images seemed to shift. The hallway ended in a pair of grand wooden doors, looking too heavy for a single person to open. It’s lucky that they were already open, then. And in front of them stood the deer.

Chase tried to ask what happened, why things had changed. But his voice wouldn’t work. Even so, the deer dipped its head, like it knew what he was asking. It turned around, facing the open doors, lowering its head and pointing forward with those golden antlers. Chase understood. He walked forward, past the deer, and into the room beyond.

He’d never seen this room before, but he knew what it was the moment he walked in. The castle’s throne room. Tall stone pillars lined the way down the long room, and a green carpet guided people towards the dais at the end of the room. Candles in sconces dotted every surface, making up for the lack of windows. The throne room didn’t have windows? That made sense, you wouldn’t want an assassin to shoot an arrow through a window, but still, even with all the candles lighting things up, the room looked... smaller than he expected. Windows would have helped.

At the end of the room was a dais shaped like a half-circle, with two steps leading up to it, covered in that green carpet. On the dais was a throne. It wasn’t gilt in gold or silver like thrones in stories. It was made of wood. But that didn’t mean it was any less grand. The whole thing somehow seemed to swirl, the wood carved into a willowy shape. Green velvet cushioned the seats, arms, and back. At the very top of the throne were three embedded jewels—two green with a blue one in between them—teardrop shaped with the points at the bottom, forming an overall shape like a budding flower.

A man was sitting on the throne. Jack. Chase recognized him, and tried not to shudder upon seeing the King’s face. Jack looked the same as he had for that brief moment in the last dream when Chase had seen him. Fine clothes that were now torn and bloodstained, chains wrapping around him. A manacle around each wrist connected to the throne’s armrests, and a thin metal collar around his neck connected him to the back of the throne. He was sitting slumped in the throne, but as Chase got closer, he raised his head. His blue eyes widened, shocked. “Y-you... came back...?” he whispered.

Chase walked up, stopping at the bottom of the dais. “Y-yea, of course I did,” he said. “I don’t really control the dreams.”

“You didn’t have to come into the room, though. You could’ve waited outside.”

“...I wouldn’t do that,” Chase said. He looked around the room again. “So... this is different.”

Jack laughed. “Yes. The nightmares change every so often. Just when I start getting used to it. I’m guessing it was deliberate this time, though. After all, you broke me out. I couldn’t be allowed to stay out.”

“...the spirit does this, doesn’t it?” Chase asked.

Jack blinked, surprised. “You... figured it out?”

“I did.” Chase nodded. “We found proof that the King’s eyes were blue as a child, but they’re green now. That’s not normal. Something has to cause that. And you’ve said you were imprisoned by the King. Well... I can’t think of a worse prison than being trapped in your own body.”

Jack slumped again, looking almost relieved. “I thought... you wouldn’t believe me if I told you...” he breathed.

“Maybe not,” Chase said. “But then... what would be the point of me having these dreams? I’m pretty sure that—Oh, I shouldn’t say too much, should I?” He glanced around.

“Probably not,” Jack said. “The spirit hears everything.”

“Well... I’ll say that I’m pretty sure something is giving me these dreams,” Chase said. “And if this was... a trap of some sort, and you were actually lying to me this whole time, what would be the point of that? Do you understand?”

Jack nodded. “I do.” He took a deep breath and adjusted his hands in his lap, the motion accompanied by the sound of clinking metal. “So. Y-you know the truth now. I’m... My name is Aodhán Jack Willeim mak Lough, King of Glasúil. I-it’s a mouthful, honestly, I know. I prefer to just go by Jack. My friends called me that.”

Chase walked up the steps onto the dais. He wanted to be level with Jack... but found that impossible. While on the floor, he was too far down, and while on the dais, he was too far up, and Jack couldn’t stand so they could look each other in the eyes. This fact made him distinctly uncomfortable. So he knelt down on the dais. He was still a bit shorter when that happened, but it was the closest their eyes could be. “How did this... Y-you weren’t always possessed,” Chase said. “When did the spirit show up? Did you... somehow attract its attention?”

Jack sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t think so. I think, perhaps, it was just looking for the right person. And I was perfect.”

“How long has this been going on?” Chase asked.

“...Seven years or so,” Jack said quietly.

“That long?!” Chase cried.

“I only had one year as King before it fully took over,” Jack said. “You know, I always thought it was suspicious. Both of my parents getting sick with some mystery illness, and no one else in the castle being infected no matter how close in contact they were with the King and Queen? I thought someone had killed them. Poisoned them, maybe, with something that worked quickly but not too quickly. And I knew I would be the first suspect. That people who didn’t know me would think I...” He swallowed a lump in his throat.

“I don’t... remember any suspicion about your parents’ deaths,” Chase said slowly. “Or your rise to the throne.”

“It was there. Either it was only the nobles who thought it, or the spirit used my power to make everyone forget about that once it took over.”—

“So... the spirit killed the old King and Queen,” Chase whispered.

Jack nodded.

“I didn’t know possessive spirits could do that.”

Jack laughed darkly. “I don’t think this is just any old spiolash that wanders the countryside. He’s... very powerful.”

“Seems so,” Chase muttered. “What... what happened after their deaths? If you’re okay with talking about that?”

“It’s fine, I’ve had enough time to think about it,” Jack said. “Things went... I won’t say things went well, but they were... normal. Being the King was difficult, especially when some of my advisors thought I’d poisoned my parents, but things proceeded how you’d expect them to. Until... I started seeing things.”

“...Things?” Chase asked hesitantly.

“In the dark, usually,” Jack said in a hushed voice. “When I was trying to sleep. A figure in the shadows. I thought it was just sleep freezing—have you heard of that? When you wake up and can’t move and sometimes see fucking terrifying things? I thought it was that. Until I started seeing these shadowy figures during the day, too.”

“Did you think it was a false world curse?” Chase asked.

“I considered it. I got desperate enough to consult with a doctor about it—which did not help my reputation when people found out. But they said I didn’t have any of the other symptoms, so it might’ve been something else.” Jack shook his head. “I couldn’t sleep. When I did, I sometimes woke up in strange places. My nose started to bleed, rarely at first, then as often as once every week. My eyes bled occasionally, too. I tried talking to wizards about it. Maybe this was some sort of curse. But... when I tried to ask, my voice froze up. I couldn’t even imply it subtly. A-and eventually, I wasn’t able to even walk towards a wizard to talk with them. My legs wouldn’t work.”

“That was the spirit stopping you.” Chase meant it as a question, but it didn’t come out as one. Probably because he knew the answer.

“Yes,” Jack whispered. “I-it got worse and worse. I started having nightmares. I started walking in different directions than I meant and it’d be a chore to correct myself. Said... unkind things to people. Couldn’t apologize. Started using my powers in ways I never wanted to. I-I promised I’d never control people. Th-there was an incident when I was little where I would make all the kids around me happy... it creeped me out. And afterwards, when the kids remembered, they wouldn’t talk to me. So, ever since then, I-I promised I wouldn’t do it, even if I thought it’d be good. But... I was... against my will, I was... making people think things. And making them forget things.” He shuddered. “One night, I had a terrible dream. A man with green eyes was chasing me through a dead forest, and he caught me, and pushed me into this little opening at the base of an oak tree and shoveled dirt in front, trapping me. Then, when I woke up, I couldn’t move. My body was doing things without me. I couldn’t... do anything. And ever since then... this has been my life.”—

Chase was quiet. He didn’t know what to say to that. What could ever be good enough for that? Words didn’t seem enough. So he leaned forward and wrapped Jack in a tight hug. He felt him tense for a moment before he absolutely melted into it. “We’re going to get you out of here,” he said. “I swear it, we will find a way to banish this spirit. You will be free again.”

Jack’s breath hitched. “That’d be nice,” he said, his voice thick as he tried not to cry.

“I swear it,” Chase repeated. “I swear it thrice.”

“O-oh. You’re... that serious about it?”

“Of course I am. I can’t leave you to suffer like this.” Chase leaned back. “Not to mention, it’ll really help the kingdom if it wasn’t being headed by an evil spirit.”

Jack laughed. “It would. I was so worried about being a good King once I was coronated, but now that I’ve seen fucking this, I know I won’t be the worst one out there.”

“Not by a stone’s throw.” Chase shook his head. “Maybe I’ll see you in these dreams again. I hope I do.”

“I hope I see you again, too,” Jack whispered. “I hope that the next time you see me, you’re able to see... me. And not that spirit.”

Chase nodded. “I’ll do everything I can.”

“Thank you.” Tears welled in Jack’s eyes. “Thank you so much.”

And then the draísling faded away and Chase woke up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jameson was finding more and more that he hated keeping watch at night. It was boring. So, so, so, so boring. He didn’t have anything to read—not that there was enough light to read even if he did—and no one was awake to play games with or talk to. And since they were trying not to attract attention, he couldn’t very well get up and wander around. So he was left just sitting there. In the dark. His mind tended to drift off, getting lost in his own thoughts.

But he forced himself back to the present. He had to check regularly if there was anyone nearby. He inched over to the door and eased it open, peering out. No, nobody in sight. It was getting close to early morning now, and people would already be getting up and going to work elsewhere in the city, but not here.

And then he saw it. Something moving. Small, and pale against the darkness of the city. He stiffened, leaning forward. Oh. That was a stray cat. But... there were no stray animals in Suilthair. At least not out in the floating neighborhoods. They were liable to fall off the wooden walkways. And yet...

Jameson glanced back at Chase, still sleeping. Then he got up and slowly, anxiously, walked out the door. He crept closer to the cat, glancing around nervously as he did so. It heard him eventually, and stopped, turning to look at him. He stared at it, not wanting to scare it away.

But he didn’t have to worry about that. The cat turned and pranced straight towards him. And suddenly, he recognized it. Jameson gasped and hurried forward. Yes! Yes! It’s Draco! Relieved, he crouched down to the ground and held his hand out for Draco to sniff. Draco did. And once it was clear he wasn’t going anywhere, Jameson hurriedly scooped him up and went back to the boathouse.

Draco wriggled out of his arms soon after he walked back in, landing on the wooden planks with a solid thump. Jameson went over to Chase and shook him until he woke.

Chase opened his eyes, momentarily confused, then looked back at Jameson. He took in the darkness of the boathouse—barely enough to see by—and sat up straight. “Did they find us?!” he whispered.

Jameson shook his head. He pointed back towards Draco.

Chase blinked. “...elders,” he breathed. Then he laughed. “Oh, thank the Elders. H-he found us! Marvin has to be nearby, right?” He crawled a bit closer, petting Draco’s head. “Huh. Did you notice this?” He pointed out a small leather pouch attached to Draco’s collar.

Jameson shook his head. Open it, maybe there’s something inside. A message, even.

“Okay. Hold still, kitty.” Chase reached forward and carefully took out what was in the pouch. “It’s a stone. With... runes on it.”

A talisman? Jameson asked.

“Must be.”

And then, suddenly, a voice came from the rock. “Chase? Jair? Is that really you?!”

“Whoa!” Chase fumbled with the rock and almost dropped it before recovering his grip. “Marvin?”

“It’s me!” Marvin’s voice said, and laughed. “I-it’s so good to see you! I’m watching you through Draco’s eyes right now.”

The rock? Jameson asked.

“Some witchcraft Vsevna suggested. You have to hold it in your hand and speak directly into it. It’s so good to see you two. It really is. I-I didn’t mean to leave, but—well it’s a bit complicated. I can tell you all about it later. Right now, I have to let you know that a whole squad of us have come here to find you.”

“A whole squad?” Chase gasped. “Who?”

“Me, Jackie, Schneep, and Vsevna and some of his crew. Oh, I realize neither of you have met Vsevna and his crew. But they’re very reliable.”

“O-okay,” Chase nodded. “What about Wyvernlair? Did they get our warning?”

“They did,” Marvin confirmed. “But there was still a bit of a scuffle. I’m not sure... I’m not sure how many people were lost. B-but most of them are fine. There’s a new camp. I-I don’t think I should tell you about it, just in case.”

That’s reasonable, Jameson said.

“Are you guys coming to get us out?” Chase asked. “We’re—we’ve been stuck in here. Jameson was caught by the King, I-I got him out of there, but—but we’ve been hiding, and there are no ways out of the city that we can find—”

“It’ll be alright, Chase, I promise,” Marvin interrupted. “Jair? Did you... really get...?”

Jameson nodded.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Marvin said quietly. “L-look, I should probably go, get everyone else awake so we can talk about things together. Keep a hold of the rock. And Draco, though I’m sure he can look after himself.” Draco curled up on the floor as he said that, looking about ready to go to sleep.

“That’s fine,” Chase said. “Um, how long will that take? To gather everyone up?”

“I don’t know, probably not that long. There’s not that many of us. I’m going now.”

“No, wait, one thing we need to tell you!” Chase hurried to add. “Before anything else. W-we learned something big about the King.”

Jameson looked at Chase. Are you sure it’s a good idea to share this? What if this is a trick?

“The King already knows we know this, so he won’t be gaining anything if it’s a trick,” Chase said.

“What is it?” Marvin asked.

“The King isn’t really the King,” Chase said. “He’s being possessed. That voice, that person in my dreams, that’s the real King. His body is being controlled by a spirit.”

Silence. “...if that’s true...” Marvin whispered. “Holy flame, I... I’m not sure how to... W-we’ll be back soon, alright?”

Chase nodded. “Alright. We’ll be waiting.”

“Thank you.”

And though Chase and Jameson stayed quiet, no more words came from the rock. Chase looked at Jameson. “Do you really think it’s a trick?” he asked.

I hope not, Jameson said.

“Yea. I hope not, too.”

For the first time in days, they had a direction. And Chase, after the draísling he just had, felt that he had a purpose, as well. Or a more solid purpose than he did before. He was going to help his family, and the whole kingdom, and Jack. It was a tall order, but he would do it. He could do it.

For the first time in a long time, he felt hopeful about the future.

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