Thank you all so much for 500+ Reads! 😇💙🧡
It means a lot to me!!~
This chapter is kind of a filler, but it gives you some backstory on Keith's Mother and it will make more sense in future chapters.
⚠ TW: Slight Angst, Blood, Slight Swearing ⚠
Previously On, Divided Space;
Keith found solace with having Pico sleep in his bed, both able to fall asleep peacefully.
Keith, now fully aware of his mother's presence at home, snapped at her and unintentionally lashed out at Pico as well.
Celeste was concerned about Pico and Keith not remembering each other, realizing too late that the mention of a certain incident caused Pico to snap and almost shoot Keith.
Keith had a flashback to the incident, waking up to Pico looking over him with great concern, remembering how close they used to be, both sharing a passionate kiss.
Celeste managed to show the boys her corrupted arm, both were shocked and Keith took the opportunity to hug her and say what he wanted to from 18 months ago.
Keith thought of a song that reminded him of Pico back from school and sang his favourite parts to him.
As made to not go to college, Celeste decided to make lunch for Keith and Pico and discuss everything after they ate.
How much has she been through?
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{𝓒𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓮 𝓟𝓞𝓥} ~ 💜
"It's time I tell you both the whole story about this now." I cleared my throat, finally ready to tell them as much as I can from the past eighteen months.
Both boys looked at each other, nodding before looking back towards me. "Alright mum, we're ready." Keith said confidently. I nodded. "Alright let's see..." I trailed off.
~ { 𝓕𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓱 𝓑𝓪𝓬𝓴 } ~
𝑒𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜
Keith just yelled at me. This is our very first proper argument. It made me really nervous so I slowly backed away to the front door while keeping an eye on him, he was looking down to the side. Once I made it to the front door I grabbed my suitcase and opened the door.
I felt like a terrible mother, leaving him like this, but he's eighteen now, I'm sure he can look after himself.
I looked back at him one last time before I walked out, waiting as I'd hoped he would look back up at me. He did, and that made me happy. Tears were still falling down his eyes. "Just know that I'll always love you, no matter what!" I softly spoke to him, holding back my tears. His eyes widened a little, mouth opened but he didn't say anything. I looked down at the floor and closed the door behind me.
Just after closing the door I heard him running, back to his room I could only presume. I walked to the side of the house where his room was and heard him saying something. "Dammit... say it back!" Is all I heard, before hearing him crying loudly.
"I'm so sorry Keith, please forgive me." I couldn't hold the tears back anymore, covering my mouth to make as little noise as possible, I felt horrible.
I wiped my tears away and started walking down the street, making my way into the city to search for clues. I'm not sure what this stuff is but it's spread a little over the past couple weeks, I needed to do this to find answers.
There was no way I'd go to a hospital. If I explained to them that I was cut by this tall dark figure who had what seemed like tentacles for arms, I'd be taken to a mental institution straight away.
I decided to stay at one of the hotels in the city and sort out the house for Keith after getting into my assigned room, setting it up so all the bills would be sent to me via email rather than them sending letters. Keith only had a part time job at the grocery store until he decided to go study again. I know he wouldn't be able to afford all those payments. This was the least I could do for him.
Good thing I showed him how to cook a little bit over the past few years, I'm certain he'll be able to cook for himself until I come back. It's quite late at night so I should get some sleep.
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It's been about a week and I still have no clues on what this stuff is. I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed it has spread all along my left arm now, more of my hair is a darker colour, even my legs are being affected. It seemed like more than half of my body was covered. No matter how much I scrubbed myself in the shower it wouldn't go away. I'm going to need to change tactics and go places I would usually refuse to go due to how dangerous they can be at times.
Grabbing my hotel key-card and phone, shoving them into the pockets of my trench coat before heading out of the building. It was night time, the best time for me to go out in my current state as I didn't want to bring too much attention to myself. It was a chilly night so I kept my hands in my pockets as I walked the dark and empty streets.
Looking around as I walked along I felt something off about this particular alleyway. Hesitantly, I entered it to investigate, curious as to what this new feeling is. It just seems like any old alley-
My eyes widened as I saw that dark figure again, except this time he has a lemon for a head? Is it a mask or his actual head? This must be what that feeling was, I hid in the shadows, crouching and observed what he was doing here in the first place. He seemed like he was alone. Perhaps he had already finished with what he came here to do. He turned around and looked me dead in the eye, I felt as if someone just walked over my grave once I saw the features on his face. Bloodshot red eyes and a wide grin with blood stained looking teeth. He turned around and walked away out of sight.
This is definitely the same thing that chased me and Keith a few weeks ago. I couldn't remember exactly if his head was that shape from that night though. I sighed in relief that he didn't pursue me-
Someone placed a hand on my shoulder and I instantly freaked out. I turned my head slowly to just see a random guy looking down at me.
"Hey now, what's a pretty lady such as yourself doing all alone in a place like this?" He seductively said, with a huge smirk on his face.
"That's none of your business, now if you'll excuse me-" I exclaimed but he cut me off, grabbing both my shoulders and slamming me against the wall. I winced in pain from the impact.
"Now, now. Let's not be hasty here, doll!" He raised his voice, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear and leaning closer to my face. I knew exactly where this was going and was filled with rage and adrenaline.
I've never been this mad before, but I won't even give him the satisfaction. With all my strength I managed to push him off of me and slapped him across the face with my left hand, big mistake.
"ARGH, what the fuck?! You bitch!" He screamed in pain. I looked at my hand, my eyes widened when I noticed drops of blood dripping off the claws of my hand. Looking back at his face to see him holding his cheek as blood fell down from under his hand onto the ground. I covered my mouth with my other hand, which was still normal.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know that would happen." I blurted out and ran out of the alleyway. Thankfully he didn't follow me, I think he was too terrified of me after that. Being scared from what I did to him I ran back to my hotel room and washed my hands thoroughly. I looked down at them and was shaking tremendously. "What have I done?" I whispered to myself. I knew his intentions, but I didn't mean to make him bleed.
I walked into the kitchen area of the hotel room and poured myself a glass of water, sculling it down and pouring myself another glass, repeating myself. I felt strange, whatever this stuff is, is slowly changing my personality as well. I really need to fix this, but I have no clue on what it is, let alone how to fix it.
Thinking too much hurt my head so I decided to lay down in bed. I looked at my phone and went through my contacts, noticing Keith's name. I wanted to call him so badly, but I don't know how he would react. I couldn't help but think about Keith and how he's doing without me. "I need help, but where can I go?" I sniffled as tears formed in my eyes, missing my baby boy. I wiped my eyes with my palm, turned off my phone and went to sleep.
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Another week went by and this stuff has covered most of my body now. Both my arms were the same with darkened crimson claws on my fingertips, my legs were mostly covered as well as my hair only having a little bit of it's natural blue left. I was freaking out and walked out onto the balcony to get some fresh air. I pulled out my phone and just stared at the blank screen. "I need help." I whispered to myself as I was starting to lose hope.
"Perhaps I can help you?" A feminine voice called out. I looked around frantically but saw no one. "I swear I just heard some-" I quietly said before getting cut off.
"You did hear me." The voice called out again. I looked down at my phone and stared at the blank screen again in confusion. "Are you coming from my phone?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yes, now please listen. In order for me to try and help you I need you to go to the internet cafe on Main Street in the city you're in, it shouldn't be too far from where you are." The voice distinctively said. "Uh okay?" I questioned. "I'll explain myself when you get there, so please, hear me out and go there. I'll be waiting in the back corner of the room where no one goes." The voice reassured me.
With that said I put my phone aside on the bench top, showered and got dressed, wearing my trench coat again to cover all of the darkness. Putting on a pair of black gloves to cover up my claws, honestly I am going to look somewhat suspicious no matter what. I sighed, grabbing my phone, hotel key-card and purse in my pockets before leaving for the internet cafe I was indicated to go to.
Once I entered the cafe I saw a cafe section on one side and a bunch of computers on the other side of the building. There was a doorway leading to another room from what I could tell near the computers.
"Welcome! How can I help you today?" The worker called out from behind the counter. "Oh hello, I'm just looking to use one of the computers in the back room." I replied with a smile.
"Oh that's our private room, it'll cost extra to use those computers in there as they have their own private booths, good for wanting some privacy." The clerk explained. "Oh the price doesn't bother me." I reassured them. "No worries then. We charge hourly, how long will you be staying with us today?" They asked. "Oh I think two hours should be fine." I replied, unsure of how long I'll actually be, grabbing out my purse to pay for my session.
"If you end up needing more time, just come back and let me know." The clerk reassured me. "Thank you." I replied, walking to the back room and going to the computer in the back of the room and closing the door behind me, locking it.
"Okay, now I just need to wait for-" I whispered before noticing the computer screen light up with a bright white light, it was so blinding I closed my eyes and covered my face with one hand. Once the light dissipated I fluttered my eyes open and saw a girl with long light brown hair tied up with a big white bow.
"Hi! Sorry to startle you!" She stated, as I was clearly confused.
"Y-you came out of the screen?" I questioned.
"Yeah, it's just something I do, travel between databases within the multiverse and whatnot." She casually exclaimed, brushing one of her prominent bangs behind her ear, inevitably falling back next to her cheek, deciding to twirl it between her fingers while looking to the side for a bit. I just looked at her dumbfounded. "So." I trailed off, catching her attention.
"Oh right... I'm Monika, pleasure to meet you." She reached out to shake my hand, I hesitantly looked down. "I- I would but.." I stuttered, taking off my gloves, showing my hands. Her eyes widened. "Oh, it's worse than I thought." She gasped.
"I don't want to risk anything, I might spread it to you if I touch you." I hesitated, putting my gloves back on and crossing my arms. "I'm Celeste."
"If I recall correctly, as I've heard of this before..." She trailed off, resting her elbow on her wrist and cupping her chin between her thumb and index finger, "...This corruption can only spread if it gets into your bloodstream from an outside force, like a cut or scratch for example." She explained. I instantly gasped, panicking internally.
'The guy I slapped in the alleyway last week' I thought. "What have I done?" I mumbled to myself.
"What do you mean?" Monika asked in a concerned tone. I looked up at her, trembling a little where I stood. "I-I was in an alleyway last week, looking for clues. Then this guy jumped me and I-" I stopped mid sentence. "Hey, easy. Take a deep breath." She reassured me. After calming down I started over and explained everything that happened in the alleyway.
"So, you saw this creature and as you were leaving that guy tried to..." She trailed off. "However you managed to defend yourself but you slapped him and scratched him with your 'claws'?" She continued. I nodded in response.
"Well, sadly that will spread to him, I'm sorry to say." She exclaimed.
"The speed on how fast the corruption spreads depends on your willpower, the more determined you are, the slower it will spread." She continued.
"How long has it been since you first came in contact with this corruption?" She asked me.
"About a month." I replied. She looked at me with surprise.
"That's quite a long time. You must have something or someone important to you that you're fighting to survive this." She exclaimed.
"What's important right now is helping you out to make this stop spreading throughout your body." She quickly changed her expression, with a worried smile.
"I don't fully understand the corruption myself, but I may have an idea or two on how to fix it." She looked at me with a more serious look. "I'll need you to trust me." She continued, showing me a genuine smile.
"I don't exactly have much of a choice, you're the first one to reach out to me." I nodded, giving her my consent. "Is there anything you need me to do? Like are we going anywhere?" I asked.
"Yes, I'm going to take you somewhere more private. I just need you to close your eyes. Don't open them until I say so, okay?" She explained.
"Oh, before we go I need to quickly do something." I urgently exclaimed, grabbing out my phone and quickly making it so all the bills will automatically come out of my bank account. I'm not risking anything just in case I'm gone for a while. I placed my phone back in my pocket.
"Okay, I'm ready, sorry for the wait." I apologized. "It's no biggie." She reassured me with a sweet smile. I did as she said before and closed my eyes. Keith, I hope this works. I miss you so much.
I felt strange and fuzzy shortly after closing my eyes, it felt like I was going at the speed of light. I noticed lots of flashing lights and colours through my eyelids, the temptation to open my eyes to see what was happening grew, but I kept control and kept them closed waiting for Monika's signal.
"Alright, you can open your eyes, we're here." She projected as her voice grew slightly distant as she spoke. To my surprise we were standing in front of a school building? "Where are we?" I called out as I caught up to her, she was walking up to the main entrance door of the building.
"I brought you into the database with me, we're currently in a simulation game known as Hating Simulator. I personally think it's a strange name for a dating sim game..." She trailed off. "I've noticed they've been working on adding me into this game sometime in the future. I've looked through their files so I thought I'd come check it out for myself, without them knowing of course." She winked in a friendly manner. She turned around looking at nothing.
"Isn't that right?" She giggled.
"Who are you talking to?" I questioned in confusion. "Oh, just something else I tend to do. It can be overwhelming sometimes." She held a hand on her cheek and waved her fingers at me.
"Well now you've gotten me curious." I exclaimed, placing my hands on my hips. She looked at me with disbelief.
"Well, have you ever heard of the 'fourth wall'?" She emphasized fourth wall.
"Oh you mean like in movies or stories where a character talks to the audience?"
"Precisely." She chimed.
"Oh that sounds ridiculous!" I chuckled. She nodded at my response. "Anyway let's get going, I'll need to see what I can do to help you out." With that said we walked into the building.
It was empty, there were various pot plants laid across the floor next to the walls, lockers standing in between the various amounts of pot plants. Benches spaced out, back to back in the middle of the hallways. It's like this 'school' was a hospital of some kind in a sense. This all feels like a dream. I shook my head from my thoughts and continued following behind Monika. She led me up a couple flights of stairs, there is no one else even in the building except us I think.
She slid open a door to a classroom and waited for me to walk through before closing the door again. "Alright you sit tight on one of those desks, I need to look through some notes of mine." She gestured to the tables to the left. I sat on the one nearest the teachers desk and crossed my legs, the tables were low enough for me to stand, practically leaning against myself against it.
Monika was ruffling through the drawers of the teachers desk and grabbed out some sheets of paper and a notebook. "What are those? I asked. "Just some notes I brought with me beforehand, I've only looked into the corruption for a short while now trying to find solutions to fix it. I just hope I'm not too late to help you." She answered as she made her way to the black board with a piece of chalk and started writing down algorithms I didn't understand.
"Argh." I grunted from a sudden sharp pain in my body, placing my hand on under my chest. The pain was so bad it made me collapse onto my knees. "Celeste!" Monika called out, running to my side. The pain started to slowly go away and I managed to stand back up, panting heavily. "Are you okay?" She asked, quite concerned.
"I think so?" I answered, unsure of what came over me. "Don't take this the wrong way, but..." She trailed off, looking to the side. I looked at her confused. "C-could you take off your coat? I need to examine you for a bit." She asked nervously, crossing her arms.
"Uh sure?" I was unsure what she intended to do, but obliged to her request. I placed my trench coat on the desk behind me and noticed her eyes were widened. "This isn't good." She muttered
"What isn't good?" I asked, suddenly another sharp sense of pain pierced through my body, bringing me back down on my knees, groaning from all the pain. "Your hair is fully dark, hold on, I'm going to try something." I shot my head up and looked at her. Her eyes were closed and was holding her hand downwards towards me with her fingers stretched out. What looked like a jolt of electricity came out of her hand, aiming it at my chest. I stayed quiet while she worked her magic I guess I'll call it. The pain left my body and I was able to stand up again.
"H-how do you feel now?" She asked me, panting a little bit.
"Well the pain is gone, thanks." I reassured her.
"That's something I guess-" She cut herself off by placing her hands over her mouth.
"What is it?" I asked, concerned.
"It's still spreading, it's climbing up your neck at a rapid rate. I don't think we have much time left." She exclaimed. I panicked and dug through the pockets of my trench coat. I grabbed out my phone and went through my gallery frantically, tears welling up in my eyes.
"Monika, I need you to do me a favor..." I trailed off, a lump forming in my throat making it difficult to speak.
"W-what is it?" She asked, concerned. I opened up my most recent photo of Keith and showed it to her.
"This is my son, if I don't make it through- whatever this corruption is, can you please promise me you'll protect and look out for him in my place?" I begged, tears running down my face now.
"He's all I have, I don't know what I'd do without my baby." I cried, my body trembling as I felt myself losing energy at a rapid pace.
"I promise! However I'll make sure to help you through this, everything will be okay!" She reassured me, but I was still scared. This can't be my end? I refuse to give up, but my body is just going limp.
"I- Thank you-" Before I knew it everything was dark.
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I saw a glaring red light, it hurt to look at. Soon it dulled down and I saw someone standing in front of me. "Monika?" I called out, but she had this look of terror in her eyes.
"Monika, what's wrong? It's me!" I tried reassuring her, but I don't think she can hear me. Next minute I saw my hands? Swinging towards her. What's going on? Am I attacking her? I internally panicked. I took a deep breath, trying to figure out what the situation was.
Monika ran out the room and my body automatically followed her, I can't control my body! Is... Is this the cause of the corruption? I can't warn her, this isn't good. She's very agile though, that's relieving to know.
She ran into one of the bathrooms. My body slowly approached it, swinging the door open and walking inside looking around. I can't see her myself. I gasped once my body faced the mirror for a moment. Oh god, I look horrendously creepy. My eyes were pure crimson red like my claws and... I had a fixed set of teeth formed in a creepy grin plastered over my mouth of the same colour.
Am I just witnessing this through my subconscious? This is horrible. I wanted to cry but no tears came out.
My body quickly glanced at the stalls after hearing a noise. Please don't find her, I don't wanna hurt Monika, please! I saw my hand push open the stall doors one by one, eventually finding Monika.
"You leave me know choice!" She cried out, sounding muffled, as my arm raised to swipe at her. A bright white light came from her hands and everything went dark again. I hope she's safe.
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I woke up in a classroom of sorts, the red glare was still there, guessing I'm still corrupted. I saw a flash of white light and shielded my eyes. Once it dissipated I saw Monika on the other side of the room.
My body instantly reacted and launched at her but was stopped? "I've brought you to my own alternate dimension, you can't leave that box." She explained. My body was still clawing at the invisible wall trying to get to her. Monika knelt down looking at me with concern and hope in her eyes.
"If you're still in there Celeste, I just want to let you know your son is doing fine." She expressed, I felt tears forming in my eyes. I was relieved to hear her say that, but she wasn't done talking.
"I've had to keep you in here for two months already though." She continued, my eyes widened in shock. It's been two months already?!
"I've found a way to fix your corruption, but I don't know how long it's going to take. I have a feeling it's due to your whole body being completely corrupted." She sighed, still looking at me.
"Thank you." As I said that, the red glare disappeared from my left eye, I could feel tears streaming down now.
"Oh my gosh! Celeste, you could hear me this whole time?" She gasped before smiling. Monika stood up, a smile beaming on her face. "I'm glad this is working, I'll keep doing my best to reverse the corruption in your body!" She exclaimed, reassuring me. I still didn't have full control of my body. I was tired so I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.
I woke up, having feeling back in my arms. I guess whatever Monika did was working. I'm still in that same room, stuck in that same invisible box as I place my hand in the air and can't reach out any further. I wonder how long I've been out for this time. Feels weird that I haven't been hungry after all this time too.
"You're awake." A familiar voice chimed. I looked over to see Monika smiling at me with her eyes closed.
"Y-yeah... How long was I out for this time?" I struggled getting the words out.
"Another two months, most of the corruption has seemed to have left your body now. Do you have full control though?" She said, before asking.
"I think so?" I questioned myself, clenching both my hands a few times, feeling relieved to have feeling in them again. One of my hands was normal again, it made me smile-
"Wait, how's Keith?" I pleaded. She looked at me with a smile and gave me a thumbs up.
"Th-thank you, I'm ever so grateful!" I expressed, sincerely. "It's no problem at all, really." She reassured me. "I need to go check up on your files." She exclaimed, turning to the side and opening up a screen in mid-air. "How are you doing that?" I asked curiously.
"Oh this? This is the database files of this- my dimension." She corrected herself. "Remember how I told you that I could travel across the multiverse?" She continued, looking over to me. I nodded.
"Well, I can also control them in a way too. For example; I managed to bring you here, didn't I?" She explained.
"Here, I'll show you how I managed to start fixing you from your corruption." She walked over to me and showed me the screen she was looking at, pointing at a specific part for me to read.
"delete('\corruption.celeste.data). Successfully Deleting. /restore('\weeb.celeste.data). Successfully Restoring." I mumbled. That was a mouthful.
"It took me a while to get the coding right, but I'm glad this is working. I'll have to try altering the coding at some point to see if I can speed up the process. I'm sorry this is taking so long Celeste." She exclaimed, frowning at me.
"Don't beat yourself up over it, whatever you're doing is working, and I'm happy with that." I reassured her, with a sincere smile.
"By the looks of it, it's just your arm and legs that need restoring." She pointed out, making the screen she was looking at disappear.
"I'm gonna go for a bit, I'll check back on you everyday, and also keep an eye out on Keith for you while I'm gone too." She reassured me, waving before a bright white light surrounded her and she disappeared.
"Guess I just gotta play the waiting game until this corruption leaves my body." I mumble to myself, sighing heavily.
"Just a little longer Keith, I'll be back soon, I promise!"
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Another two months went by and it appears the corruption has completely left my body. I just gotta wait for Monika to come back to examine me to see if I'm good to go. I have a good feeling about it as I'm starting to get hungry again. I still can't believe I haven't needed to eat anything for the past six months. I guess it also may have something to do with this dimension of Monika's or the corruption perhaps.
My hair even feels all soft and silky again. I have a scar on my left arm from where I was initially cut from that creature. A bright white light appeared, shortly after it dissipated I saw her.
"Monika! Welcome back." I greeted her.
"You sound super cheery today Celeste!" She chimed in response.
"Of course, I think the corruption is completely gone." I celebrated, standing up and pointing my legs in and out before spinning around slowly to show her it's all gone. I hope so.
"Wow yeah, it looks like you're right!" She cheered, clasping her hands together.
"I'm actually starting to feel hungry again after all this time." I chuckled nervously, my stomach grumbled shortly after.
Wait, I just remembered. All my things I packed in my suitcase were left at the hotel. If I'm lucky they'll have it in their lost and found room behind the main counter. Not going to get my hopes up though. I mainly just care about seeing-
"Celeste!" I snapped out of my thoughts, Monika waving her hand in front of me.
"S-sorry, just lost in thought. I left my things back at the hotel before meeting you six months ago." I softly exclaimed.
"Oh right, I'm glad you brought that up actually." She smiled at me. I look at her tilting my head.
"I managed to grab all your things from that hotel room. I should explain... I don't need technology to be able to teleport. I can do that freely whenever." She confessed. I thought it was very fascinating.
"Ready to go back into the real world again?" She smiled at me, holding out her hand. I smiled back, gladly accepting her hand. A bright white light appeared around us so I closed my eyes bracing myself for what she was about to do.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now." She exclaimed, tapping my shoulder. There was a glare from the sun shortly after opening my eyes, squinting until they adjusted to the natural light shining on us. We were in one of the alleyways within the city. I looked down and noticed my suitcase in Monika's hand, passing it to me and holding it now in my hand.
"Thank you so much for all your help Monika." I sincerely thanked, giving her a tight hug, and she hugged back.
"You're most welcome. I hope Keith will be happy to see you again!" She chimed with a big smile on her face. "Oh, before I forget. Can I borrow your phone for a quick moment?" She continued, holding her hand out facing her palm up. I hummed, reaching into my pocket to grab my phone and placed it in her hand.
"Thanks! Now I don't normally do this, however you are a very genuine person with a pure heart." She said as she held her other hand over my phone, jolts of electricity sparking into it for a moment before handing it back to me.
"There, all done. I put my number in your phone. It's unique as you'll be able to get in touch even while I'm in the multiverse. Just don't give it out to anyone, alright? Promise me that." She exclaimed.
"Of course. I promise!" I reassured her, waving to her as I walked off toward home to see my baby again. As I got a few streets down from the alleyway I left there were barely any people around which I found odd. Perhaps it's a weekday? I didn't actually check what day it was but I was enjoying myself being all be-
"Argh" I winced from a sudden sharp pain in my left arm, covering it with my hand. It was so painful that I fell to the ground
I looked at my left arm, removing my hand from it slowly. My eyes widened as the corruption was starting to spread again all down my arm. "No, this can't be. Was it not enough?!" I muttered, tears starting to fall down my cheeks.
Next thing I know a limousine pulled up on the road next to me. One of the doors opened in front of me and a guy with fiery pink skin and horns on his head stepped out, grabbing me and my suitcase, bringing me into the car.
"W-what're you doing? Let me go!" I pleaded, not sure what was going on. They stayed silent and got into the vehicle with me.
"Apologies for the abduction ma'am. I mean you no harm." A deep manly voice came from across where I was now sitting. I couldn't make out who it was, his face was in darkness. "Rest assured, I believe I can help you." He leaned forward, revealing his face. He had dark violet skin, darkened eyes with red stars glowing in their sockets and a big grin on his face.
"I'm Daddy Dearest, it's a pleasure to meet you!" He introduced himself.
"I-I'm Celeste... Why did you-" I introduced myself back before getting cut off.
"Fear not dear, I'll explain everything once we get back to my lab." He exclaimed. My eyes widened once he mentioned lab. What does he plan on doing with me? I just want to go home and see my boy again. I gritted my teeth and winced in pain as my left arm was still hurting.
"Hmm, the corruption is spreading at a noticable pace. I'll do my best to help you, you have my word Miss Celeste.
The limousine came to a halt and we all got out, walking towards what looked like a luxurious mansion. I was honestly in awe at the pristine exterior and lavish garden out the front.
"This is a nice place you have, Mr Dearest." I expressed with sincerity. He turned around and thanked me, giving me a big grin. We walked through the front double door of his mansion. The interior was as elegant as the outside. We walked into the reception area? I'm not quite sure.
"Honey, you're home!" A woman with a deep, velvety voice spoke, looking up from a desk filled with paperwork. She had the same skin colour as Mr Dearest, long dark brown wavy hair and the same red stars in her darkened eyes. She set aside the paperwork she was working on and walked over to us. "Welcome back!" She pecked him on the lips.
"Ah Celeste, this is my wife and also one of my assistants, Mommy Mearest." He introduced us. "Pleasure darling." She reached out her hand to shake. I was still holding my now corrupted arm again. She noticed and took her hand back.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know..." She trailed off. "Are you going to give her one of those doses dear?" She asked him, crossing one arm across her stomach, holding her elbow in that hand and resting a long finger nail on her bottom lip.
"D-doses of what?" I asked hesitantly. They both looked at me simultaneously.
"Fear not, I'll explain on the way to my lab." He reassured me with a smile.
"How is Cherry doing? I hope she's doing well while on Winter break." He asked his wife.
"She's doing fine, she was a little stressed out from exams, but she's relaxing now. She's excited to go to her first year of college next year." She chuckled, covering her mouth a little bit. "She just needs to get through the rest of her last year in highschool." She continued.
"Our baby is all grown up, where has the time gone?" He pondered, reminiscing at the old times.
"Schnookums, could you please fetch us some tea? I'll walk Celeste here to my lab now." He kindly asked his wife.
"Of course dear, I won't be too long- Oh! Your assistant is down there too, running some tests in your stead. He's very reliable. It was good that you found him." She exclaimed, walking away to another room.
We made our way to an elevator and got on. After Daddy Dearest pressed a button we started moving down.
"Now you've probably got lots of questions about why I've brought you here." He started.
"Honestly, I thought I was fine. I was making my way home, back to my son too..." I softly spoke, trailing off. "I take it Cherry is your daughter?" I asked.
"Correct. She's almost nineteen." He answered.
"My son turns nineteen this year too. Maybe they'll meet up at college next year?" It'd be nice of him to make a new friend." I looked down, smiling. He chuckled a little at the thought.
"You know, ever since I found out about the corruption, I quit my rock star career and dedicated myself to science. I've been studying its components for almost ten years now." He exclaimed, resting his hand on his chin.
"In my discoveries I've been figuring out how to reverse the spread of it and nullify it completely with different concoctions and running tests. I believe I've been able to create the cure..." He trailed off, looking down at me.
"I just don't know if or what side effects may occur." He sighed.
The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Both of us stepped out, I followed his lead.
"There is one more important thing I must tell you..." He paused, looking at me as we walked.
"The creature that is the cause of the corruption is known as Monster. He has what looks like a lemon for a head, though you can't really tell in a dark environment." He explained. My eyes widened.
"T-Then the creature that attacked me and my son before was-" I stuttered.
"You actually encountered him?!" He gasped. "It's a long story..." I trailed off. I then explained to him the whole thing about the night Keith and I were chased through the city on that stormy night.
"I see... So you managed to defend yourself with a weapon, but he surprised you after you thought you knocked him out." He softly spoke.
We reached the door to his lab and he grabbed the handle, turning to me before opening it. "I'll be sure to help you out so you can see your son again." He reassured me with a big grin on his face.
Upon opening the door I was in awe from all the flasks and concoctions within the room all along the middle of the room on a spacious table and along the walls. I noticed a guy in a lab coat on one corner of the room, he turned around after hearing the door open.
He had bright blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair. "Ah Senpai, good to see you. How have the tests on corruption been coming along while I was gone?" He asked the young looking man.
The guy smiled and slowly walked over to us. "Very good Mr Dearest, I'd like to show you one of our successful experiments." He exclaimed, walking over to another door in the room. We followed behind and were led into another room which looked like an interrogation room. There was a big window along one of the walls with two people on the other side of the glass, tied up.
I took my hand off my left arm, it was hanging limp now and covered my mouth when I noticed one person was completely dark, with two crimson red eyes and a set of crimson teeth.
"Is that person corrupted?" I asked hesitantly. 'This must've been how Monika saw me when I couldn't control myself.' I thought.
"Precisely." Senpai replied. "Now the other guy who looks fine, was also corrupted just moments ago too. The potion we've been working on ended up being a complete success!" He cheered, clasping his hands. Senpai then grabbed a potion he already had inside the room and opened the door leading into the room with the other two in it. "Now, observe." He looked back at us as he spoke and closed the door behind him.
Mr Dearest and I both stood there watching him as he approached the corrupted person. "I hope he knows what he's doing." I muttered worriedly.
"He should be fine if he already cured the other person." Mr Dearest reassured me.
"I know, I'm just worried for him." I expressed.
The corrupted person made a struggle with their bindings, probably trying to lunge at him, from my experience at least. Senpai managed to pour some of the liquid into their mouth. It stopped moving for a moment then both our jaws dropped as the darkness started to turn back into the person's natural colouring, hair, skin and clothes. I gasped as I recognized the person that was corrupted.
"I know of that man." I muttered.
"You do?" He questioned.
"Yeah well, this guy approached me in an alleyway six months ago and harassed me, so I mustered up the strength to push him off of me and slapped him with my corrupted hand." I explained.
"Wait a second, you were corrupted SIX months ago? How did you manage to last that long?" He raised his voice with surprise.
"Oh, I had some help before, I'd rather not go into detail. Long story short- When you found me, that's when I thought I was better, but it started spreading again." I explained.
"I ended up becoming completely corrupted, just like that guy, and I witnessed everything that happened. I couldn't control my body and attacked the person trying to help me." I shuddered at the thought.
"This is very interesting. Celeste I believe we can learn a lot from one another." He exclaimed.
"After seeing this miracle, I'll let you know one thing I learnt. Assuming you don't already know this fact." I exclaimed, looking over to him.
He turned to me and raised a brow.
"The corruption can only spread from one person to another if it gets into the victims bloodstream." I explained to him. His eyes widened.
"Very fascinating indeed, thank you for your Intel Celeste!" He thanked me with gratitude.
Senpai walked back into the room with us, leaving the other two tied up. "I'll leave these two tied up in there for the time being. Give them time to get used to being human again." Senpai said.
"Senpai, they should be fine to go back out into the world now to live their lives. From what Celeste has told me anyway." Mr Dearest reassured him.
I explained to Senpai what I just told Mr Dearest. He gasped in surprise and unbound the two in the other room and escorted them out of the facility. Mr Dearest and I walked back into his lab while waiting for Senpai to come back. The door creaked open and Mrs Mearest walked through the doorway.
"Here's the tea you two, sorry to keep you waiting." She said.
"It's no trouble at all, really." I replied.
She looked at me with a concerned look on her face. "Oh deary me, it's gotten quite bad on you Celeste." She softly spoke with a frown on her face. Checking it out for myself, it's spread onto half of my hair and one of my legs already.
"Uh, it's alright, we're just waiting for Senpai to get back. They've managed to make a cure for it." I reassured her.
"Really? That is truly remarkable." She exclaimed, giving a sweet smile.
Moments later Senpai came back and grabbed another batch of the cure and handed it over to me. I looked at it and it did not look appealing whatsoever. "All I gotta do is drink this?" I asked for confirmation.
"That's correct. One mouthful should be enough." He instructed. I sighed heavily and held my breath as I lifted it up to my mouth and tilted it back taking a mouthful. I almost gagged from the taste, but managed to swallow it all. The corruption started to slowly fade away from my body-
"Argh!" I winced from a sudden sharp pain in my chest. Mr Dearest and Mrs Mearest both covered their mouths in shock while Senpai quickly grabbed the potion out of my hand before I lost my grip on it. The pain slowly went from my chest to my left arm making its way to the scar, everyone watching carefully as my arm went back to being all darkened and the crimson red claws came back. Once the pain left I sighed in relief that it was over, but freaked out that my arm was still corrupted?
"The pain stopped, but why is my arm like this?!" I panicked.
"Half of your hair is all darkened horizontally as well." Mrs Mearest pointed out.
Mr Dearest had his head down in thought with his eyes closed for a moment before opening them back up. "My theory is that this is because this is your second time being corrupted. Well, technically that is. That is the only solution I can come up with for the time being." He explained. It wasn't spreading anymore so I had to go with what he said.
"I can't go back to my son, let alone out in public looking like this!" I whined.
"Don't worry, we'll keep working on a way to fix you up. We're just not sure how long it'll take, but please have faith in us." Senpai comforted me.
"I guess I don't really have much of a choice." I mumbled. 'Never thought I'd have to say that again' I thought to myself.
"You can stay with us as long as you need, that way you don't need to worry about going out into public view." Mr Dearest reassured me.
"Thank you. I can always wear my coat and long pair of gloves if I need to go out anyway." I exclaimed.
"Besides, I think I might take this opportunity to hunt down that creature, get clues on his whereabouts." I continued. They all looked at me with worry, before Mr Dearest sighed.
"If that's what you really want to do, then we won't keep you here, but you are welcome back anytime, especially if you find out any more information, I'd be most intrigued to hear it." He expressed.
"Here's my number so you can keep in touch." He handed me his business card. I gave him my number back in return.
"Thank you for the tea and your help." I thanked them all with sincerity.
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With that, I was escorted out and spent the next year looking for this Monster fellow, mostly at night time to hide my appearance, making sure to never let my guard down. I got in contact with Monika, not telling her too much but just about the creature and if she could keep an eye out on Keith while I couldn't go home. Thankfully she understood and didn't pry.
I found out the creature also goes by the name Lemon Demon so I stuck with that name for him. I needed to get a new weapon though, so I covered myself up one day and bought myself a new baseball bat. It was made of steel so it would do the trick if anyone tried to mess with me. I felt stronger and more agile than usual, guessing this was one of the perks for having this corrupted arm.
Eventually I found out that I was unable to corrupt others now after having an accident with a bystander, scratching their hand when shopping for food. I apologized by bandaging them up and paid for their shopping.
When the start of the first semester was starting I decided to duck over to home to check up on Keith, I waited around until I saw him. 'Why is he still wearing that uniform from his work?' I thought to myself, then it clicked. He mustn't have applied in time for college. I tried to not overthink it. I panicked a little, as I can have a bad tendency to overthink things sometimes.
I kept looking for clues for the next six months, but to no avail. Taking the opportunity to check up on Keith, but got a little distracted at the park and stood next to the big tree up on the hill overlooking the city, the beach was just over the horizon, it was a pretty sight to behold. I felt a shiver down my spine so I looked over in the corner of my eye and noticed someone with blue hair. Keith. He was staring at me, I didn't want him to see me like this so I didn't face him. But then I noticed he ran in the opposite direction.
He wasn't in his work uniform, so I put two and two together as he must've been able to get himself into college. I'm glad. I decided to go into the city and grab something to eat and have a lazy day as I was in a good mood. After spending hours in the city, it started getting cloudy in the sky so I went back to the park to see what the view of the city was like while it rained. Not long before I arrived it started raining, as I expected. I stayed in the shelter under the leaves and placed my hand on the big tree up on the hill.
I got another shiver down my spine, thinking it was from the cold weather. But just in case I looked over in the corner of my eye again and saw Keith once more. This time he started running up the hill towards me. I panicked and walked behind the tree and started climbing it, high enough so he wouldn't hear me. Using my claws to hold myself on the tree. I held my breath as he approached. "There's no way she could be here, has she been here this whole time? I refuse to believe it!" He muttered out to himself. The thought that he refuses to believe it's me made me sad. 'He must hate me after leaving him after all this time.' I thought to myself.
I snapped out of my thoughts and saw him leave. I quickly got down and looked down the hill. Keith was running away back towards home. Something caught my eye in the distance of the park, my eyesight has gotten better too. I noticed a guy with ginger hair trying to hide behind a tree. Pico? He was looking at Keith as he ran off. Before I knew it Pico was walking away.
So Pico is going to the same college as Keith, this is too good to be true. They must be super happy to see each other after all these years. It's like everything is all coming back together again.
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A few days later I got Intel from some security workers one night as I happened to walk by, ducking into the shadows to eavesdrop on their conversation. That's when I knew I had to make my move. I called Monika and asked her to meet me at the mansion on the dark side of the city, it was completely isolated out in a field. I told her to make sure no one followed her. We made plans to meet there on the weekend.
Busting in through the back door, making barely a sound and looking around while waiting for Monika. I heard something coming around the corner from the hallway I was in and swung my bat, I noticed it was Monika so I purposely missed as she ducked for cover.
We were relieved to see each other, but were cut short due to being spotted by someone corrupted. It chased after us and we ended up running into a room, I made sure it wasn't following us anymore. Once the coast was clear we chatted for a bit before Monika was attacked. It was Lemon Demon. I informed Monika to leave as I knew she could teleport and I would take on Lemon Demon myself.
We fought for a good thirty minutes, but he was stronger this time than before.
"You're tougher than I last remember." I exclaimed, panting from exhaustion.
"Same goes for you. Now how about you tell me where Keith is?" He glared with a crooked smile.
"How do you- What do you want with him?" I raised my voice, confused with how he knows Keith's name.
"Well, I was going to settle with you, however you're unable to get corrupted any further than you are now for some reason. So that boy will have to do Celeste." He snarled.
"H-how do you know our name?" I questioned, completely puzzled by his knowledge.
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know." He laughed maliciously at me. I need to get out of here.
I slowly backed away to the door, feeling it with the back of my foot. I reached for the handle and once I grasped it I pulled it open and made a run for it.
"Where do you think you're going? You can't just leave!" He called out.
I have to get out of here without him finding out where I've gone. Then it occurred to me, I noticed a set of stairs leading down into what seemed like a basement while running with Monika before. I headed down there, making no noise as I got good at sneaking.
It was very dark in here, but I could just make my way around. I hid behind a corner to listen out to hear if he was still pursuing me. Nothing. Good I was in the clear. Making my way through some dusty old rooms within the basement I noticed a faint light in the corner of one of the rooms. Upon approach I noticed it was a window leading outside. Thankfully it was just big enough for me to fit through. I climbed out and ran away from the mansion into the city, not looking back.
Once I got into the city something that Monika said to me ran through my head. 'You ought to check up on him yourself sometime, just saying.' I hesitated at the thought. But pushed away my nerves and walked to my house, to Keith. Hoping he was there, asleep if anything being quite late at night. Thankfully I still have my key to the house. I unlocked the door and locked it after getting inside.
I walked into my room and placed my bat down in the closet. It seemed like Keith kept it tidy while I was gone. I smiled at the thought that he still cared to keep my room clean. I then walked over to his room and noticed he wasn't in bed. I wonder where he could possibly be this time at night. Maybe staying the night at Pico's? But wait, college is tomorrow, surely he- I shook the thought out of my head and walked over to his bedside table, noticing a photo frame sitting on it face down.
I flipped it over and tears welled up in my eyes once I saw it. It was a picture of me and him while we were singing together not long before the incident, he had his phone on camera mode with a timer set on it. I stroked my hand over the glass. "I've missed you so much Keith." I whispered to myself. After a moment of staring at the photo I placed it back down the way I found it and went into the kitchen. I wasn't tired so I just sat there, hoping he would come home.
About twenty minutes later I heard the front door being unlocked, I shivered where I was sitting, just waiting for the door to close. Before I knew it I heard a deep, raspy voice that sounded like an old friend of Keith's. 'Pico?' I thought. I stood up and walked out into the living room to see Pico carrying Keith on his back, he was half asleep, it was a cute sight if I'm being honest.
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𝐵𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉
"And that's basically what happened over the past eighteen months."
"I know it's a lot to take in..."
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[9,443] Words~
Date Published: 28th September 2021
Hey Peeps! Thank you for reading!
This took longer than I expected, but it's my longest chapter yet!
Next chapter is going to take some time as I'm going to be in the middle of moving house later this week!
Stay happy and safe out there! See you all in the next chapter!!
💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡