(Title taken from 'Warrior' by Beth Crowley)
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Shelby's POV (3am)
Origin - Shadow Crawler
Dear Diary,
I had a really nice time yesterday. I still feel terrible about not remembering Scott and I's friendship anniversary. He says it's not my fault, but I... I remembered him vaguely, despite my memories being completely gone, or almost all gone, so why didn't I know about our anniversary? I suppose I can understand why... He was only familiar to me, and I vaguely knew his name; of course I wouldn't have remembered about something like our friendship anniversary.
But anyway, speaking of Scott, he's currently asleep on my hammock. He's been tossing and turning a little. I'm guessing it's to do with the nightmares. I hope they're not too scary...
Oh! And Scott's butterfly brethren are all here! Scott and I set up a bit of a garden on one side of my greenhouse, outside, a few hours ago, and the butterflies have really been enjoying it. I wish I could grow flowers inside, but they die too easily because of the tinted glass. They'll be able to flourish outside; why didn't I think of making a garden outside sooner?
I hope to one day have an even bigger garden! With fields of wheat and carrots and potatoes! And of course, many flowers! I don't know how possible that'll be at the moment, but perhaps in the future. The future is always an option.
Scott was wondering what it looks like on his physical body when he's having one of those nightmares that I apparently cause, so i'm taking notes of any significant, interesting things that happen. So far, it's mostly just been tossing and turning but he also looks noticeably distressed, and has also been... mumbling to himself. I haven't been able to really hear what he's saying because it's so quiet, and sometimes muffled by my pillow, but I have heard one thing, and it's, "Don't touch her".
I don't know who he's talking about, I just know it's a she.
But anyway, I should go. Gotta concentrate!
- Shelby Grace.
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"Shelby! You home?" a voice calls from outside. I huff lightly, placing my diary and notes down underneath my hammock before quietly standing up and heading to my front door. I walk outside, and I see Sausage floating down, his light grey wings spread out wide and gracefully.
"Hello" I greet, closing my door behind him, "What are you doing here?" I question, folding my arms.
"I wanted to come say hello" Sausage shrugs, "I see you've made a garden" he smiles.
I nod, "Yeah. Scott helped me" I respond.
"That's cool" he says and walks around to the side of my greenhouse to get a good look at it, "It's really nice".
"Thanks" I say.
He smiles at me, and then the smile drops as he clears his throat, "So uh...".
"What?" I question, "If this is about the soul I gave you, I'm not telling you who's it is. Plus, you didn't even know them. I didn't know them either" I lie.
"You... stole a soul from a random villager?" Sausage questions, folding his wings in.
I shrug, "I guess. They were just wandering around. I don't know if they were from Gem's village though".
Sausage sucks in a breath, "If they were from Gem's village, and Gem finds out, you are gonna have a bad time dealing with her... Gem is quite attached to the villagers now. At least, the ones in her village".
I guess that's good? I mean, I didn't actually take a soul from a villager. Means I don't have to deal with Gem. Not yet at least. I still don't even quite understand how I took Mika's soul. I just know I put my hand through her skin and I felt my hand wrap around the tiny blue flame that is her soul...
"Oof" I mutter, "So, what do you want?" I question, folding my arms again while glaring slightly at him, "I'm currently watching Scott to figure out the whole nightmare thing".
"Oh, I won't keep you away long. I just wanted to come check on you, since I haven't seen you since... y'know" he says.
"Oh" I hum, then pull a face, "Why?". Why would he be coming to check on me after I gave him a soul?
"You're still my friend" Sausage says and I don't know if I believe that, but i'll go with it. "Are you actually going to take my soul or...?" he inquires, smiling nervously.
I shrug, "Don't know. Honestly, I haven't figured out exactly how I do it" I smirk, "So you're safe. For now".
"Uh huh..." he hums, taking a step back, "Does Scott know?".
"About the soul taking? Goodness, no! I don't know how he'll react" I say, looking offended, because really, I am.
Sausage looks at me strangely, "And what will you do if he finds out?".
I pause, looking at Sausage's blue eyes, before looking back out into the starry night, sighing, "Depending on his reaction... I might run... or figure out how to go to the in between and just stay there".
"You... still don't know how?".
"Scott said he'll teach me when he wakes up" I respond, shrugging.
"I see" he mutters, before looking at the garden again, smiling as Scott's butterflies enjoy the flowers, "I know you won't tell anybody about... your past. But I wanted to ask how you've been getting on with remembering stuff. It's gotta be hard not remembering much of anything".
I think for a moment, "Well... I've been remembering some things... not a lot. So I guess it's going okay? I don't know. Depends on your definition of 'okay'. Do you remember your past?".
He pauses, "Well... no. Not really...".
I raise an eyebrow, "You don't? I thought you knew demons. I figured you meant from your past".
"Well... maybe I did. But I have met other demons before in other worlds. Heck, even some of the dimension hoppers are demons. Dimension hoppers can be any humanoid creature. Be it elf, human, hybrids, demons, even angels. Anything" he explains.
I huff at his implication of me being a demon, but then think, "So... what are you? Like, I know you're an elytrian right now, but what are you as yourself?".
"As far as I know, i'm just human. Like I said, I don't know anything about my past so... if I am more than just human, I don't know. Maybe i'll ask Saint Pearl. She may know. So then... what are you? You've got the elf ears, and from pictures i've seen of you, as just you, you have a white wing and a black wing, so are you like an elf-bird hybrid?" he asks.
"I... don't think i'm a bird hybrid. I'm pretty sure i'm just an elf with wings. Although, I'm still remembering my past so maybe I'll remember soon. It's entirely possible the shape of my wings don't actually mean anything. I just had wings" I figure.
"Perhaps. Well, I gotta head off. I'm going to help Jimmy with something. See you around, Shadow Demon" he says, turning to fly off.
"It's Shelby! Or Shadow Girl! Or Shadow Shelby! I'm not a demon!" I call after him, huffing as he flies off, "Am I...?".
I clear my throat, shaking my head, before turning on my heel and heading back inside my greenhouse to see that Scott was now facing away from me. "Hm" I hum. Hope he's okay...
I go and sit back down beside him and that's when I decide to sit down and look through some of the pictures in the photo album Scott gave me, while also keeping on eye on how Scott is reacting on the outside during his nightmares.
(Time skip - 4am)
It's not long before Scott finally wakes up, looking pretty stressed. He looks around, and then his eyes land on me, and he sighs in relief. "Hey, Scott" I greet him.
"Hey Shelby" he greets in response, yawning.
"Aside from the nightmares, did you sleep okay?" I question, closing my photo album and setting it down on one of my shelves.
He shrugs, "As good as I can, I guess" he responds, stretching, "Did you get to write anything down?".
"You most tossed and turned, and mumbled a bunch of stuff that I couldn't really comprehend. You did also look noticibly stressed. Aside for that, there wasn't much else I could really note down" I explain to him.
"I see.." Scott mutters, "So, what else did you get up to while I was asleep?" he questions.
"Sausage visited. He was on his way to see Jimmy. Apparently Jimmy needed help with stuff. Don't know what though. Sausage apparently wanted to check on me since he was passing by. I guess I understand. It's been a while since he last saw me" I shrug.
"Hm" Scott hums, "What'd he say to you?".
I shrug again, "Not much, aside from calling me a Shadow Demon. He was also asking how I was getting on with getting my memory back. I told him the truth; it's going as well as it can".
Scott nods, "Why's he calling you a demon?" he questions.
"I'm guessing because of my appearance and what not, but... eh" I shrug again. Geez, I like to shrug, don't I? "But also probably due to me being spooky. Maybe he's seeing something that I'm not, but maybe I should know" I suggest.
Scott thinks for a moment, "Perhaps..." he mumbles, but then I notice him look over at my box of photos and he takes a deep breath.
"Shelby, may I ask you something?" he questions.
"Of course" I reply, but get nervous.
"Have you... seen the pictures in your hidden compartment of that shulker box?" he inquires, and I look at him, puzzled. I think he got the message, considering he gets up and flutters over the box, opening it and digging around for a second. I go over, watching as he moves the pictures around in there, before I spot a secret hatch that I had never noticed before.
"Wait, that was always there?!" I ask.
"Yeah. Here... you can open it. Just pull the thread" he says, moving out of the way. I swallow nervously and get down on my knees, reaching into the box and tugging gently on the string.
I glance at Scott, and he nods. I take a deep breath, pulling it open and I freeze when I see the two pictures behind the hatch. "I..." I trail.
2 pictures of me and my family. One, I was still a child, and the second one... it must have been taken not long before I left Nikokei.
I shakily take the pictures out of the box and examine them. My sisters, my parents, and my aunts and uncles, my cousins... and I'm guessing that's my grandmother in the first picture (Shiloh note: Yes, I am contemplating drawing the pictures. This may take a while to do, though).
"You... put these in that compartment because you obviously wanted to keep your past a secret" Scott explains, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I begin to tear up as I look over all of my families faces. My sister, Marley, is in the middle. She... well, I can only assume right now, was heir to the Nikoken throne. I'm on her left (our right) and Ari is on her right (our left) in both pictures.
Next thing I know, I'm hugging the pictures to my chest, and I feel small...
"I... figured you should know where they were... considering you put them there. I didn't want to keep these pictures a secret. I thought maybe you would find them eventually, but I didn't want to wait" Scott says, giving me a hug.
"I understand..." I whisper, "Thank you...".
Suddenly, there's a knock, and I hurry to put the pictures away in their compartment, shoving the box into the corner quickly before clearing my throat and walking slowly over to the front door, Scott fluttering behind me. "Who is it?" I ask, slowly opening the door.
I peer out and I see a ghostly figure standing there. It takes me a second to realise who it is. "Wait... Callum?" I ask.
"Yep" he grins, giving me a thumbs up.
"What are you?" Scott asks. Huh. He doesn't know either.
"I'm a Phantom" he grins.
"Ooh" Scott hums, spinning around him to have a look at what he is, "Can you fly? You have wings. Well... ripped wings".
"No, I can't fly" Callum shrugs, "Also, my wings used to be... not ripped but... yeah... they got burnt by the sun" he mutters, looking embarrassed.
"Well, that explains the burn marks-" I cut myself off, realising something, "Wait... the sun burns you?".
He nods, and it's like my whole world just flipped on it's head. My mouth drops open. I grab him, somehow still able too despite him being see through and pull him inside. Scott follows.
Then I remember that i'm also see through, but people can still make physical contact with me. Must be the same situation with Callum.
"Whoa, what was that for?!" Callum questions.
"You burn in the sun, and the sun will be rising soon" I tell him.
"Yeah, in like an hour. Not yet" he laughs.
I chuckle, "But either way, you're a night crawler! Like me!" I beam, smiling brightly at him.
He chuckles, "I guess I am".
"So, what can you do?" Scott questions.
"Well, I can go invisible. I can phase through anything while invisible. I burn in the sunlight. And... that's it really" he explains.
"Whoa..." I hum, "Wait so, does the sun blind you? I just burn you?".
"Just burns" he shrugs, "Turning invisible makes me really hungry though, so I have to always have food on me if I wanna stay invisible. Being invisible makes it so I can go out in the day".
"Huh..." I mutter, "Well, either way, that's so cool! I have a night time buddy!" I grin.
Scott chuckles, and Callum does too.
"Although" I hum, narrowing an eyebrow, "Do you still like the day? Even though it burns you?".
"I mean, yeah. I like the day. It's pretty to look at. I can still look at it, as long as i'm not in direct sunlight. It'll still feel warm, but it won't burn me" he explains, and I pout.
"Bro... this blows!" I shout, throwing my arms into the air out of frustration.
"Shelby-" Scott starts.
"You can still see the day time, even though you're a night crawler!? That's so unfair! I can't do that! I go blind in the sun!" I complain, going over to my hammock, sitting down and crossing my arms so I can sulk over this.
But then one word hits me. 'Burn'.
Callum burns while in direct sunlight. He's struggling too. He has a way around it but he's still struggling too. I frown, unfolding my arms, "I'm sorry..." I mumble, "I should have thought more before I got angry...".
"Oh, Shelby..." Scott says, fluttering over to me, "I know you're upset, and we don't blame you. It's a tough situation, but I promise, everything will be okay".
"Yeah. And I'm sorry I made you feel like you were on the only one struggling" Callum says.
"No! I just don't think the word 'burning' quite hit me so I got angry, and then I realised" I explain, "I'm sorry. You don't have to be sorry".
Callum frowns, and walks over, giving me a hug, "You don't need to be sorry either".
"I don't?" I mutter, tensing up at the hug, since i'm not exactly used to anybody hugging me aside from Scott. Well... not used to it anymore, at least.
"No" he grins.
"I... okay" I trail, awkwardly hugging him back. I see Scott smiling as we do, and then he joins the hug.
Outside, the sky is beginning to lighten, just the tiniest bit. Before long, the sun will be rising.
When we all part from the hug, Callum sits down next to me. "So, how have you been? We haven't spoken really since the End fight" he starts.
I shrug, "Okay, I guess. What about you?" I question, fidgeting with my bracelets.
"I'm good. Still getting used to the invisibility, and the fact that I burn in the sunlight, but either way, I'm feeling alright" he grins. I then turn my attention to Scott who suddenly twists his wrists and out comes a couple bottles of water, of which he hands one to each of us.
"Oh. Thank you" Callum grins and begins to drink the water slowly. I follow suit, feeling refreshed pretty soon after I start. Scott sits down on one of my shelves by my bed, since he's small enough to do that, and we all take a moment to have some water.
"Living in my castle now is a pain, since the main portion of it is outside. I'll probably move my bed to be inside, since I do need to start filling up the space. I think it's about time I have a proper bedroom" Callum chuckles, "Besides, I don't exactly want to wake up every morning to being on fire because of the sun".
"Honestly, I've been thinking about getting a proper bed soon too. Sleeping on a hammock isn't always the comfiest, no matter how many sheets you place on it, especially since it moves a bit" I respond, but then realise, "Wait, you still sleep at night?".
"Sometimes. I guess I'm just too nervous about being out at night all of the time due to the monsters. Even though I can go invisible, and they can't see me when I'm invisible, like I said, I need food in order to stay invisible, otherwise I automatically turn visible again" he explains.
I frown, "Right...".
'Maybe he's not as much of a night crawler as I thought...' I think, 'He's a fake. He doesn't know the true beauty of the night'.
"But that would also apply to during the day, so wouldn't it be better if you were out mostly during the night?" I question.
"Probably. But monsters are an issue. They still attack me" he responds.
I internally giggle at that, 'Ha. Weakling'.
I roll my eyes lightly, but they obviously can't see that due to my eyes being solid white. He won't be good for a possible night owl club. Or... maybe he will, if he leans more into his origin. I guess only time will tell.
Callum looks out the window, "I should... probably head off now. I was just passing by and decided to say hello. Thanks for the water, Scott" he says.
"No problem" Scott grins.
I nod, "Okay. See ya" I say with a wave, and then suddenly, he's invisible. I see his weight leave the hammock as he gets up. I see the front door open, and then close as he leaves, making me shiver, "That is scary" I laugh.
Scott also laughs in response, "Anyway, let me teach you how to go to the in between and back".
3rd POV (8am)
"It's finished!" Sausage calls out to Jimmy who stands waiting in his house.
"Okay, okay! I'm on my way" he responds, and Sausage watches as the feline walks out, and the two walk over to where Sausage has built a little surprise for his friend. "Enjoy your new cat tower, my friend!" the angel man chirps, pointing enthusiastically at the cat tower.
Sausage has never seen Jimmy this happy. "Oh my gosh!!" he chirps and immediately begins climbing on it, "Thank you!" he grins, sitting on top of it, cheer in his green and brown eyes. Sausage can see Jimmy's tail swaying back and forth.
"Man, this looks so good. I'm keeping this" Jimmy says while jumping off, landing safely on the ground with no damage done.
"I have something else for you!" Sausage chirps, pulling out a small bag of something and handing it to the catman. "What is thi- don't you dare-" Jimmy mutters, opening it and immediately getting a waf of the stuff inside, "Cat nip!?".
Sausage bursts out laughing as Jimmy starts going crazy over it, taking a big sniff of it. Who knew somebody who is only a cat by origin would get so worked up over cat nip like this? "Don't use it all in one day, please!" Sausage warns Jimmy.
"I need to put this somewhere that I can always go back to it" Jimmy mutters before twisting it away into his inventory, a big grin on his furry face.
"Save it, just don't use it all in one day, please. It's very hard to come by" Sausage warns him again, using a semi-serious tone to get the point across, "Oh and yeah, one last thing" Sausage says while twisting his wrists.
Jimmy's mouth drops open when Sausage holds out three strength potions for him. "You actually got my stregnth potions?!" Jimmy questions in disbelief, happily taking them.
"Well, you never know when you'll need them" Sausage grins, "Especially if you wanna go mining".
"Oh yeah, true. And I don't exactly want to get trapped" Jimmy laughs.
Sausage nods, "And plus, they're eight minute potions!".
"Yo!" the feline grins, "Wait so, what happens when you're not an Angel anymore, Sausage?" he questions curiously.
"Oh, you don't wanna know" Sausage jokes, "Hopefully I don't get some weird wither demon, please, I don't want it".
Jimmy chuckles to himself, "So, what are you gonna do now?".
"Hm?".
"Like, are you planning to help someone else today? Since you had mentioned in the group chat that you wanted to be more helpful around the neighbourhood while you can as this origin" Jimmy reminds him.
"Oh right! Yeah. I'm not sure who i'm going to help next, to be honest. Nobody's really asked for help with stuff, yet. Maybe I'll go and visit everybody, see if there's anybody who needs help with something, y'know? I wanna earn everybody's trust, even though you all know me. But, I wanna gain Shelby's trust too. Being gone for 400 years and having little to no memory; I imagine that makes you scared to trust people, so I wanna prove to her that I am a good person!" Sausage exclaims, hands on his hips, and a determined grin on his face, "Although... has Shelby seemed off to you?".
"No? I mean, I haven't really spoken to her at all. Aside from the nightmares and her being spooky, I haven't really noticed anything off about her, if that makes sense" Jimmy responds.
Sausage bites the inside of his cheek lightly, thinking back to how Shelby acted when she gave him a soul. He still doesn't know who the soul belongs to, and Shelby most likely won't tell him. He feels like he should tell somebody, but he doesn't exactly want to be on Shelby's bad side; especially when she's stealing souls, apparently.
But... Shelby's eyes when she gave him that soul; he doesn't know why, but it felt familiar. How they looked darker than normal... he's seen something like that before; he knows it, but where...?
Shelby... she's cloaked in secrecy... and Sausage wants to know what's going on...
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Shelby looked around the In Between. She had been practicing with Scott for the last few hours. He had just gone to visit fWhip, and said he would be back in an hours or two, so Shelby decided she would practice a little more on her own.
As she looked around, she noticed some people walking around, travelling to and from the worlds they were a part of, and she wondered just how many worlds she had been in before the Void took her. It must be a lot, but Shelby isn't sure on just how many.
She looked down at herself. She was still very much a shadow, but somehow, here, she has her wings. They are also made of shadows like the rest of her body. She doesn't try to fly with them again yet; something tells her it's gonna take some practice to get used to them again, especially after her time in Afterlife is up if she doesn't get an origin with wings the whole time.
Surely she will, right?
She's also not being blinded, despite how bright this place is, which she doesn't quite understand, but she doesn't complain.
"Hello" a slightly echoed voice calls out, and Shelby jumps out of fear, turning with a scared face to find two tall figures in front of her; both female and... very much god-like.
"Apologies, we didn't mean to startle you, Shelby" the slightly shorter one speaks.
"Who are you...?" Shelby mutters, feeling very intimidated, "How do you know my name?".
"I am Lady Nira, and this is Lady Harlowe. We are the current gods of the In Between" Nira responds, flicking her pale blue hair behind her, "We know your name because we've been watching over you and everybody on Afterlife".
"You... You watch over the dimension hoppers?" Shelby questions softly.
"We do" Harlowe nods, "It's our job. Well, part of it".
Shelby swallows, "So... you know what happened to me?" she asks quietly as to not alert the other dimension hoppers that are here.
Nira and Harlowe look between eachother. "We know what happened to you... but unfortunately, because you were already in the Void when we became the gods, we are still learning about your past. We know what happened to you, and we will know the full story soon enough. What we know right now is from observing your story and what Scott has told us" Harlowe responds, "Which in hindsight, isn't that much".
Shelby swallows, "Why did your... mothers stop being the gods? If you don't mind me asking" the shadow questions, fidgetting with the end of her hair.
Nira sighs, "It's part of the cycle. We have been the gods for about-" she's about to say, but Harlowe lightly elbows her.
"Hey-" Nira hisses.
Harlowe shakes her head, "No. Not yet" she says, before turning to Shelby who was confused, "Just know it's... been a while".
Shelby gets the hint that if Nira told her how long they have been the gods for, that it would give Shelby an idea on how long she had been in the Void for. She sighs lightly, "Okay...".
Suddenly, she's wrapped in a hug. She flinches, and looks up to find that Lady Nira and Harlowe were hugging her. She felt safe in their embrace. "Everything will be okay sooner or later, we promise" Nira tells her, "Just... be careful what you wish for".
"Pardon?" Shelby mutters, confused, looking between them.
Harlowe sighs lightly, her strawberry blonde hair falling over her eyes a little, "You'll learn... and unfortunately it's gotta be the hard way".
"What do you mean? What do you know?" Shelby asks, but they don't respond, they just let her go with a small smile, and then say, "You should head back now". Shelby argues with herself over if she should continue pushing for what they mean, but she gives up and decides not to push her luck.
She closes her eyes, and soon enough, she finally gets herself back to Afterlife where she was sat on her hammock, like she had been before she teleported to the In Between.
She swallows, looking around nervously, not knowing what this all means. "Be careful what you wish for", what does she mean by that?
Shelby's POV
I don't wish for much. Well... aside from wishing that things were better. And I guess I want eternal night... but is that really a wish? I don't know. Although... I mean, I guess it is...
How does one bring eternal night though? There's no way I can do that alone. I need friends. People who like the night time, and would want eternal night as much as I do. People who don't feel welcome under the rays of the sun, just like me.
I glance up at the sound of laughter outside, and I see Jimmy and Sausage running around outside, headed towards the edge of my island. They get to have fun out in the sun, and I don't. They get to live in the day, and I don't. It's not fair.
They're playing tag by the looks of things, and they're having fun it seems. Suddenly, Jimmy stops, staring directly at me as I look back at him. Well, I think that's Jimmy. It's hard to tell considering they have cat features, but he has Jimmy's hair so I'm guessing this is Jimmy.
Sausage also stops, considering he noticed that Jimmy had stopped. Now they're both looking at me, and I can see the pity in their eyes...
Do they feel bad for me? No, why would they?
I sigh and look away from them, getting off of my head and sitting below the window line where they can't see me. I can hear them talking in the distance, but it's hard to make out what they're saying.
I lift my eyes, and I spot the shulker box over in the corner. Swallowing, I crawl over and pull out those two pictures again from the secret compartment. I sit down against the wall and look at them. Everyone looks so happy...
My wings were both still white and despite the fact that I looked a little nervous, I looked happy in both pictures. To think this was almost 700 years ago. There's no way they're alive to this day... but they could be... right? Yeah... they could be.
I hug the pictures to my chest, and before long, fall asleep.
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3rd POV
"Mama!" Shelby chirps as she runs out of the school gates and into her mothers arms, her two older sisters not far behind her. "Hi Angel!" her mother grins, picking up the 6 year old into her arms and reaching with one arm to hug her other two daughters. It's finally the summer break; Shelby has been waiting for this day all year, although she is sad, because at the end of summer break, Marley begins her first year of secondary school.
As Shelby grins, hugging her mother tightly, she sees most of her cousins, aside from Elijah since he's already in secondary school, running to her aunts and uncle Finley. Her uncle Dylan is picking up Elijah from school.
For a moment, Shelby notices River glance at her, and the two stick their tongues out at eachother, before looking away. "Shelby, your beret fell off your head" Marley laughs, handing it to her mother who places Shelby down and then adjusts Shelby's mushroom beret neatly back on her head. "Thank you" Shelby grins up at her oldest sister, who grins back down at her.
"Dad!" Ari grins and runs up to her dad as he arrives, two guards behind him. Marley and Shelby follow close behind their sister, giving their father a big hug.
"Is everybody ready to head home?" Shelby hears her Aunt Maeri call as she walks over.
Everybody nods and they turn, lead by two guards, and they begin down the trail, back towards the castle. Shelby listens to the sounds around her in the forest, drowning out the people around her talking. She can hear the birds chirping, and the wind blowing through the trees, but what sticks out to her the most is her own panicked breathing from a few weeks ago.
She remembers cowering under a tree as River looms over her.
She shakes her head, grabbing her mothers hand and clinging to her as they continue walking. She can feel River's eyes on her, but she doesn't look. "What's wrong, Shelby?" her mother questions gently.
Shelby swallows, "River is being scary..." she mutters.
Stellar remembered how those were Shelby's exact words a few weeks ago when she came running to her and trying to hide behind her from River.
"It's just your imagination, sweetie. I promise. River isn't being scary" Stellar says softly.
Shelby shakes her head, "No, you don't understand...".
"We'll talk when we get home, okay?" Stellar responds, "I promise, everything is okay" she says, gently picking up her daughter into her arms, stroking her hair, before continuing on after the rest of the family, and Shelby buries her face into her mother's neck, hiding away like if she were to look around, monsters would take her away.
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Shelby snaps awake with a gasp and looks down at the pictures again before curling into a ball and staring out of the window. She doesn't know how much time has passed, but it's still day time.
She thinks about how life maybe could have been different if she hadn't left Nikokei. Would things be better?
She left because she didn't want her family knowing about her black wing; she was scared of how they'd react. At least, that's what Scott told her, and she knows that's correct because it feels correct, even though she doesn't remember. But... she was bound to need to leave anyway, since she's a dimension hopper.
Tears fill her eyes, and she doesn't bother to wipe them because she knows there's no point. They'll still fall either way. Despite her memory loss, she knows she misses her family. She knows there's no going back to them.
She closes her eyes, and soon enough, drifts back to sleep. And it's not long before she hears that familiar sound of the waterfall again. She opens her eyes, and ahead of her is that pond where she saw Lustre Shelby. "Lustre...?" Shelby calls out, and she sees her voice sitting on a rock in the middle of the pond.
She waves Shelby over. Shelby swallows, and then walks towards her. The pond is shallow, but Shelby is still scared to step into it. Lustre encourages her, and it gives Shelby just enough confidence to get in and join Lustre on the rock. She sits beside the glowing figure, her feet still dipped in the water. "Hello" Lustre greets.
"Hi..." Shelby responds, "Did you bring me here...?"
Lustre nods, "I did. I thought you'd enjoy some time to just sit in a nice, peaceful place. Although, I suppose a pond isn't really great for you, considering you don't like them".
"I... I'll be fine" Shelby shrugs, lightly kicking at the water.
It's quiet between them for a little while as Shelby enjoys the sound of the water and the birds chirping in the trees around them. Lustre looks at her, nervous, but then she takes a deep breath, and decides to ask the burning question that's been on her mind, "Shelby... do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Uh. Sure" Shelby responds, not looking at her.
"Do you ever... feel like your thoughts aren't just your own?".
Shelby raises an eyebrow and turns towards Lustre, "Like... a voice in my head?". Lustre nods and Shelby thinks for a moment.
"I don't... have a voice in my head. Well, not anymore. I suppose I do see you and Void Shelby every so often but... no. My thoughts are my own" Shelby assures with a smile.
Lustre thinks for a moment. "I... I see" she mumbles, clearing her throat, "Well... just... be careful, okay?".
Shelby looks at her strangely, a mix of confusion and something else that Lustre couldn't quite place, was in Shelby's eyes. "I'll be careful..." she says.
"Promise?".
"I promise" Shelby nods slightly, still very confused.
'She doesn't know what she's talking about. Don't worry' Shelby thinks, then looks away from Lustre.
"Shelby" a voice echoes, and Shelby recognises it to be Scott.
"Oh, I gotta go" Shelby says, and when she blinks, she finds herself back in her greenhouse. Scott is in front of her, looking concerned. "Shelby?" he asks.
"Yes?".
"Are you okay?" he questions, "Sausage called me to say that you were passed out and weren't waking up".
Shelby then realises Sausage is in here too. She sits up straight, and that's when she realises the sun is now setting outside. "How... How long was I passed out for?" she questions, hugging the pictures tighter against her chest so that Sausage can't see them.
"Well, after I had saw you watching Jimmy and I from your window, I wanted to come and check on you to see if you were okay, but Jimmy wanted to give you some space. I came back to check on you about 20 minutes ago and that's when I found you passed out in the corner" Sausage explains, "Hugging two pictures, no less".
"You didn't... see the pictures, did you?" Shelby questions, suddenly getting serious.
"No, I didn't. I know my limits" Sausage says.
Shelby sighs in relief. "Are you okay?" Scott asks again, holding Shelby's hand.
"I'm fine..." she responds, "I uhh... I guess I was just tired..."
Scott and Sausage look between eachother, and Sausage shrugs. "Now I feel bad that I didn't come back like I had said I would" Scott mutters.
"No, it's okay" Shelby assures him, "I'm fine, don't worry".
"If you say so" Scott nods, "Well anyway, do you still want to go see that pond I was telling you about?".
Shelby nods, "Sure" she smiles.
Sausage says his goodbyes and heads off into the sunset.
"What happened?" Scott questions, knowing Shelby wouldn't talk about it in front of Sausage if it's to do with her past at all.
"I uh... I saw Lustre..." Shelby mutters.
"You did?" Scott presses.
"Yeah... I uh... it's not the first time. This is the second time i've seen her" she explains.
"Why didn't you tell me before?".
"I uh... I guess it just never came up... She asked me if I ever feel like my thoughts aren't my own. I feel like she knows something... but I also feel like she doesn't, and is just making sure i'm okay. Or... maybe she's overreacting" Shelby chuckles slightly, "I'm fine. My thoughts are my own. Why wouldn't they be? I mean, I know I had voices in my head in the past but... I don't have any now".
Scott pauses, then says, "Well... can you tell me if you ever do feel like that?".
"Y...Yeah, I will..." Shelby nods.
"I just want to make sure you're okay, that's all" Scott smiles, "Now, you ready?".
"Yeah, let me just put these pictures away" Shelby smiles, pulling her shulker box over to her so she can put the pictures of her family away, but she looks at the pictures one last time, gives them a kiss, then puts them away.
"You miss your family, don't you?" Scott questions as she head out, Shelby pulling out her handheld fan so she can block the fading sunlight. She still feels weak even when they're barely there.
"I... I think so... although, perhaps i'm not feeling it completely because I barely have any memories right now" Shelby responds, shrugging.
"Perhaps so" Scott says, his butterfly brethren fluttering around them. Seems they wanted to join.
"How far is this place?" Shelby questions, resisting the urge to glance at the sunset.
'Stop' she tells herself.
"About a 30 minute flight. 50 minute walk" Scott responds, "It'd be so much easier if we could teleport there, huh?" he laughs, and Shelby also laughs in response.
"That would be cool if we could. Maybe Lady Nira and Lady Harlowe could help with that?" Shelby questions.
"Hm... perhaps so. I had thought about asking them. Maybe I will at some point" he shrugs, "It'd be so much easier to go anywhere, even though I can fly".
Shelby smiles with a nod, and the two get into a boat and begin towards the area Scott had found.
(Time skip)
"How did you even find this place?" Shelby mutters as she wanders through the dense oak forest, Scott fluttering along side her, along with many of Scott's butterfly brethren, "It's quite far into this place, by the looks of things".
"It's not too much further" Scott says, "I found it when I was exploring, and helping Gem look for berry bushes".
"I thought berry bushes were only in dark oak forests?".
"They are, but we were passing through" Scott explains.
"Ohhh, okay" Shelby nods, looking around, "This... forest is quite dense...".
Scott looks at her.
"It... Nikokei was quite dense too..." Shelby realises, going off of what she has remembered so far.
Scott frowns, hoping it's not giving her any bad memories of... certain events. "Yeah... well, we're here!" he announces, moving past some trees where Shelby finds herself to be in a clearing with a beautiful willow tree at the back, along with many flowers, and a beautiful, bright pond with waterlilies and lilypads floating in the gentle current.
Shelby looks around in wonder. The waterlilies glowed ever so slightly, but not enough to hurt Shelby's eyes. "Wow..." she hums, wandering over to the edge of the pond and kneeling down. She sees her shadowy reflection looking back at her as she dips her hand into the water. It's warm, yet not at the same time. It's perfect...
She retracts her hand and looks back at Scott with a smile, "This is beautiful" she says.
"I'm glad you like it. You're... not scared of the pond at all?" he questions gently.
Shelby looks at the water. She can just barely see the bottom of the pond. She does feel a little nervous, but otherwise... she feels alright. So she shrugs, because she's nervous, but she feels fine otherwise.
Looking up, she can see the billions of stars twinkling in the night sky, and she moves to lie on her back and stare up at them with a smile on her face. The moon hasn't quite risen high enough to see through the clearing in the forest ceiling; it'll be a couple hours or so before she will.
Scott smiles softly and lays down next to her; many of the butterflies fluttering around to the land on the waterlilies, or sit around Scott and Shelby, or going to sit on some of the tree branches.
"Shelby" Scott speaks.
"Mm?".
"Do you remember anything about your time as a dimension hopper yet?" he asks softly.
Shelby pauses, thinking for a moment, "The... only memory I've had of my time as a dimension hopper was the vision I had of us in that nether fortress... nothing else has come back to me yet".
"I see..." Scott trails, "Well... I brought something for you to read".
Shelby looks at him, confused as he holds out a small book to her. She takes it, still confused, "What is this?".
"Something you wrote about a little thing that happened one time. It's a funny story, to be honest" he says.
Shelby sits up and flicks to the first page where she begins to read it.
------
The time I got locked in a stairwell trying to leave a friends HUGE party:
So, there was a huge line on the escalator to leave. I didn't want to wait in that line, I wanted to go and meet up with Scott outside! So I thought, "I'll take the stairs!".
I go down the hall. I see the sign in the hall that says 'stairwell exit'. I go all the way down, as far down as it goes. Reach the bottom, there's no door! So, I went back up a floor; I thought that maybe I went too far down. Went up another floor; didn't open! There are 8 floors to this building! I went up every. single. one of them.
Mind you, each floor is two flights of stairs. That is 16 flights of stairs. Way too many.
I checked every door. I started at the bottom, and now we're here! I didn't want to bang on the door... because I didn't want to be that person they just find locked in a stairwell, but it was also so. hot. I thought I was gonna pass out.
So I was waiting and being embarrassed by whoever finds me after banging on the door. Or die.
Never tried taking the stairs ever again. Never will try taking the stairs. In case of a fire, i'm hoping out a window, because I ain't risking the stairwell anymore. I can fly out a window.
It was traumatising, but then I met up with Scott and got a big hug, so I got over it.
-----------
Shelby lets out a small giggle, "I got stuck in a stairwell?".
"You did, yes" Scott laughs along.
"Who's party was it? And why were there so many people?".
"I'm... pretty sure it was Lizzie's birthday. Lizzie has a lot of friends, so there were people there that I didn't even know. Although, this was many, many years ago. You didn't know Lizzie that well yet; you guys had only been friends for about 3 months when this happened, but she invited you since you are a friend. Don't ask me why she decided to have it be in an 8 story building" Scott laughs.
Shelby smiles, "Thanks for the hug after that".
"You're welcome".
"Wait so... how long ago was this? Because remember I was in the void for... a while" Shelby questions.
"Oh, it was long before the Void took you" Scott explains, "You were... 24, I think?".
"But, technically 19" Shelby says.
"Yes" Scott nods, laughing.
Shelby then realises something, "Wait so, what world was that? If the party was in an 8 story building".
"It was in Lizzie's home world, but in a part of her home world that nobody knew who she was" Scott explains while sitting up.
Shelby narrows an eyebrow, "She... still had access to her home world? I figured that, since we're dimension hoppers, the gods of the in between wouldn't permit us to go to our home worlds".
Scott shrugs, "Lizzie's was a rare exception. Because her home world was so large, she could easily be there without being found out. Despite how, apparently, well known she was in her home world. Normally, we wouldn't be allowed, or some people want to not go back at all to their home worlds".
"I see..." the shadow mutters.
"She still had access to her home world, same with Joel and Jimmy since they're all from the same home world, but she almost got recognised the last time she went, so she hasn't been back in a while" he continues to explain.
"I see... wait, Lizzie, Jimmy and Joel are from the same home world?" she questions.
"Lizzie and Jimmy are brother and sister. Lizzie and Joel are married and have been together longer than I've known you. Even before they became dimension hoppers, they were together".
"Wow... that's... a long time" Shelby mutters, "I didn't know Lizzie and Jimmy were siblings. I mean, they don't look that much alike, I don't think".
"They're half siblings, that's why. Same mother, different dad" Scott explains.
"Ohhh".
The next hour is spent mostly in silence. Shelby lays there, looking at the night sky, wondering what it'd be like if it was eternally night time. Sometimes there's small talk, sometimes Scott has to step away to deal with monsters, but it's peaceful, and Shelby couldn't ask for anything else. She was in a peaceful, beautiful area; her best friend next to her, and the night sky to keep her compony.
Shelby feels like she's drifting, just like before...
The sky is bright, littered with stars to be seen for miles and miles.
And then Shelby hears music and gentle singing. Snapping back to reality, she glances to see that Scott is playing his guitar and singing gently next to her. She smiles, because she feels calm. She reaches out, placing a hand on Scott's arm, and the two smile at eachother. A promise in that smile, that they'll never fall apart...
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7.7k words. Sorry, this one took a while. I was just taking my time with it :)
-Amber/Shiloh