Just a Happy Ending

In The Hall Of The Demon King

Bendy gasped. Sand hurtled into his mouth. Bendy spluttered and jerked his head off the ground, coughing and spitting sand. He pawed at his tongue, grimacing at the bitter, metallic grains scraping his mouth. "Blech, what kind o' mindspace is a beach?"

"Ỳ̷͖̝͐o̶̞̔̾o̷̟͝ȯ̷̤̲̚ù̴͎̝͠ů̷̻̥ŭ̸̖̘̊u̴̮͗u̷̱̣͌u̵̥͆...̴̭̂͆"

The voice rumbled through the endless sea of black sand, making it spike in circular cones. It was almost hypnotizing, watching sand move like magnetized water. The cones circled and melted and climbed up each other until they formed a pillar of something human-ish looking.

Arms burst out of the pillar and what remained of Joey's remnant leapt out. What used to be a red outline had managed to solidify itself into a black and while effigy over three times Joey's original size. Sand clung to virtually every part of it, permanently covering the upper half of the face while trying to form the toonish grin overtop. Parts of its body had gaping chunks missing, filled in with sand. As the body moved, the sand followed, but slower, like the sand was on a tape delay that kept lagging. Whenever the body held still, the sand caught up and attempted to form something akin to the Ink Demon.

"Ý̸̻Ǫ̶̩̈́Ȍ̴̯Ǒ̴̥̥U̴̢̞͂Ů̶̳̼̐U̵͔͆̾U̴͖͝ ̶͔̲̽Ȃ̸͈͔Ả̸̳͉A̶̘̋̀A̵̛̭Ā̶͚̬R̶̹̈́E̷̝̚͝ ̵̫̙͑Ḍ̴̩͒̌Ȩ̵͖̽A̶̼̖͘A̸͇͝Ȧ̴͇̀A̶̖̘͆Ḑ̴̃ͅ!̶̲͔͌̏!̴̊͐͜!̶̨̾͌"

Bendy let out a squeal and sprinted away. The sand shifted under his feet, making him slip. Despite it, he kept running. He wasn't entirely sure how, but he'd managed to turn the circle's spell on the Demon King and end up in its head. That wasn't part of the plan!

Sammy and Norman were gone. If the remnant caught him, he'd be gone too!

Bendy scrambled against the flowing sand. Just run! Run, run, run! Don't let it catch up!

He stumbled. The sand clung to his feet. "No, no, no! Please!" Bendy cried as the remnant reached for him.

Something grabbed Bendy's leg and yanked. The sand swallowed his head before breaking on the other side. The world inverted and Bendy dangled upside-down for a split second before whatever had grabbed him spun him around and clamped a hand over his mouth. He squirmed against the arms around him and tried to elbow the body behind him.

"Shhhhhhh," whispered the thing holding him.

Bendy stilled. He could still hear the remnant under the floor. A few seconds passed and it reached an arm through, pawing for something. Bendy's captor-but-maybe-savior stood up and clicked its teeth. The hole around the remnant's arm cinched and turned jagged.

The remnant squealed and retreated.

Bendy started squirming again. He'd had enough of being grabbed and restrained! The thing let go of his mouth. "Lemme go! Let me go! You can't have me! I have to escape!"

The thing leaned over and let Bendy flop to the floor. He wheeled around.

A man knelt before him. He looked tired, like he hadn't dared sleep in weeks. Black nicks and cuts littered his paper white skin. His eyes shimmered with gold and the same light flickered in his chest.

He stared at Bendy as if trying to comprehend what he was. His hands lifted, inviting Bendy closer.

Bendy leaned away. He'd been shown so many illusions and lies. Could he trust this thing?

Still, if it was true.... He stepped close enough to let the man hold his head between his hands.

The man's hands were rough and cold. They rubbed the side of Bendy's head before sliding up to his horns. The thumb and finger curled around the tip of his horns and rested there for a moment.