IMPORTANT NOTICE:
If you are affected or are easily triggered by the topics of blood, death, suicide, thoughts of suicide, sex, and all fun gore-like things, then it is best that you DO NOT CONTINUE READING THIS BOOK. I have realized that the more I plan out this book, the more dark and twisted I am able to make it. And I do not want any of you to be surprised in a negative way. This is the final warning as for all these things. From now on, things are going to and can get ugly. So fair warning. Thank you and enjoy.
Schneep says Marvin lives within a day's journey. He apparently lives isolated from everyone else in a hut in the woods, but based on Schneep's positive attitude towards him, all you can do now is hope he can help. You'll go, he will give you a remedy, you'll come back, and then work closely with Schneep to plan a way to get Anti back. Easy peasy, right? As long as you have some sort of remedy to control your outbursts, you should be given plenty of time before the world becomes sick of you. You can't start a war with a universe if you lay low, stay quiet, and keep peace.
The journey isn't dangerous, but Schneep said to be prepared for delays if necessary. So wear something you can move in, and pack anything you need for an overnight stay if it is needed and travel light.
You already know you won't need much because you own very little, despite being the ruler of this world.
You stand at your wardrobe, doors open, displaying dresses and outfits for every occasion that you have never touched.
You search for something to wear that may be convenient for this journey. As your fingers softly strum the fabrics of the untouched clothes, you can see dust falling off in a trail after your hand. The bright colors being whitewashed in dust, none of them are appropriate, or your style. Then your fingers pull apart two dresses and you see a piece of fabric stuck in between. It is softer than the others, and you pull it out a little to see it's a smaller dress. Simple, thin, and definitely looks like it doesn't belong.
Your face turns cold.
It's a rose-gold gown, with many spaghetti straps, and it looks like it comes down to your knees. It's silk and soft to the touch. Perfect for sleeping in.
You don't know what it is about it, but this gown gives you a disgusted feeling in your chest, as if a curse is placed upon it and you can feel the misfortune weaved within each fiber. Your heart pounds and something in your mind can see you wearing this dress, but you can swear you've never seen this gown before.
You stuff it in the back of the wardrobe, hopefully to never be seen again, and you run through the remainder of the clothes to find what you need.
You find a black, quarter sleeved, skintight shirt, and you tuck it into a pair of black, cargo-like, pants that end at your calves and tie at the bottom with a string. Then you find a brown leather belt to finish it off.
You put on a pair of boots, and stand in front of a mirror to look at yourself. Finally, your style your hair in your favorite way.
Then you look at yourself. Staring blankly into your own shallow and exhausted eyes. Studying your face and the shadowed eyes of someone who is partially dead with no life in them. No emotion, because it had all been drained out. You slowly stretch your fingers, but even as you see them move, you can't tell if it's actually you moving them.
You don't know how long you stand there, frozen in place breathing slowly, but something flashes in your mind and jerks you back to reality, like the sudden realization that Schneep is probably waiting for you downstairs. You turn to head out, but you remember one last thing.
In the drawer beside your bed, you dig through, searching for a piece of leather. Once you feel your fingers graze across the rough material, you pull out a brown sheath, and hook it onto your belt, then wrap a strap around your thigh that holds the sheath close to you and is accessible in case if any danger. That way you can just reach down and pull out the engraved knife that lays inside.
The hilt sticks out, just begging you to grab it. You press your palm on it, then grip it and slowly pull it out. The metal is almost blinding against the light, but very clearly you can see the tiny letters that spell out:
ｆｏｒ ｍｙ ｐｒｅｃｉｏｕｓ (ｙ/ｎ)
It makes you question who (y/n) really is. She must be very important.
You look at the knife and something bubbles inside you. It makes you grip the hilt until your knuckles turn white and something catches in your chest. It feels like anger, but this has more determination. You whisper to yourself, "I am going to find you, Anti. And I will bring you back."
You meet the doctor downstairs, and you see him standing at the large double doors with some sort of satchel. Must be his doctor's kit. He also holds a scarlet fabric draped in his arms.
When he sees you, he looks at what you're wearing and nods in approval. Then he hands you the fabric. "Wear this," he says.
"What is it?"
"A cloak. On our way here I'd think it's best to wear something that hides your identity. Just so no one freaks out you are out and about."
You take it, and the cloth is tough, but far from uncomfortable. You put it on, your arms side through holes at the top and it looks as if the fabric wraps itself around your torso and shoulders, and hugs your neck. The back of it falls down to your ankles, so it is daily easy to walk and move without tripping.
"You don't have to put on the hood now, but once we get down there you might want to. But for now... You ready?"
You look down and nod your head. "Yeah..."
"Alright then. Let's head out."
"Doctor...?"
"Yes?"
"Erm..." You don't know how to put them right words together. "Do you think... No... I want to go visit Chase... Before Marvin."
"What? But your- ahem." He stop and changes his tone. "(y/n), going to Marvin's is already a trip in itself. If we visit Chase, it will take even longer."
"I know, but... I just don't feel right about leaving him. I hurt him and I'm not even stopping to apologize? Yeah, he might not even want to see me, but that's why I need you to come with me. Keep him, and I, in check. Please?"
Schneep looks at you sympathetically.
"I just want to make sure he's okay."
A pause, then he says, "This is how I know all hope isn't lost. This right here," he gestures to your chest, "is your human soul talking. It seems it still has the power to influence your thoughts." He sighs. "We'll go see Chase."
"Thank you."
"You just have to be sure to wear that hood whenever and every time I tell you too. Understood?"
"Absolutely."
"Good. Now let's get going before Wake. There's more people out than we want."
Now, you don't know if it's just you, but the air seems slightly cooler than the last time you were outside. But that could just be the slight breeze. You swish your cloak behind you and trudge forward, Schneep at your side, and down the fire-lit path into the woods.
It truly is a shame how beautiful this world is. The way many of the bark of trees match the scarlet color of your cloak, and how some are brighter. And the leaves take on a similar behavior. Thousands of different shades of red, similar to there being no two green leaves the exact same shade. Even the dirt beneath you, dark, crimson red mixed with a little black from the soil underneath. Flattened stones and leaves that make a path, and the occasional beds of red grass alongside it. It's all gorgeous. The bummer part is how a world this beautiful is trying to regurgitate something too impure for it.
The change in path tells you you are coming up to a village. You turn to Schneep for instructions.
"Best to put your hood up now. And pull that extra fabric around your throat up to your nose."
You reach around your shoulders and find the hood and pull it above your head. It shadows your face.
Then you questionly grab the extra fabric around your neck, find the rim, and pull it up to cover your mouth and nose. You realize what it's meant to be. It's a mask, but it's made from a different material than the rest of the cloak. The fabric that wraps around the back of your neck, under your ears and over your nose is thinner, so it's much easier to breathe through than the thicker one that covers you. It fits the shape of your face perfectly, so there's no way it will fall down.
Schneeplestein once again nods in approval. "This will help you blend in with the others. No one will recognize your face, or the clothes you're wearing."
"What about you?" Your voice is slightly muffled from the mask. "They know you accompany me everywhere I go. If they see you, won't they figure I'm the one walking next to you?"
"You are correct. So that's why this is what we're going to do: you know the way, so you are going to walk in front of me, and I will be much further behind. That way by the time they see me, you will be nowhere near me and I will seem to be escorting no one. So they won't suspect a thing."
"Smart. But if they see me, won't they feel skeptical of a cloaked, masked, and hooded person they've never seen before?"
"They would only think you are a new ego. New ones appear all the time. And if any come up to you, just..."
"Don't speak."
"Exactly. They'll probably think you're a mute or something."
You exhale. "Okay. Let's go." And with that, the two of you make way for the village.
Once you make it to the entrance, Schneep stops, but you keep going, being sure more to look back, and focus on making if to the other end.
Random faces pass you, none sharing a glance. Good.
Some you recognize from the incident at the fountain, but none seem to be shaken at all. But the one thing you can say is: there are much less out now than there were before. Probably because it is before Wake. But even then, most, if not all, egos don't need sleep.
As you approach the fountain in the plaza of houses, you remember the events that took place there, then quickly push them away and trudge on. You circle around it to reach the path that leads out, and as you turn the bend you glance back to see if Doctor Schneeplestein is following you. You don't see him, but that doesn't mean he's not following you.
Just as you turn around, you nudge shoulders with another person, who clearly want paying attention to where they were going more than you were. You turn to look at them as a man in a blue vest and black bowler hat raises a hand apologetically, bows his head, then turns off to where he was headed. And you do as well.
You've never really been in this part of town. Past halfway through, closer to the border of the woods. It's a little more crowded, with the houses so close to each other, and and drive/walk way leading up to each every 100 feet or so.
The strange sight is this part couldn't be more dead than a ghost town. You almost feel a cold breeze from the emptiness of the streets and lack of bodies.
You grab your cloak close to your arms, and make way to the edge of town. Schneep's plan had worked. Thank god.
Once you meet woods again, you be sure to walk in a couple yards so no none sees Schneep meeting up with the cloaked figure. And you wait for him by sitting on a fallen tree. Doing so, you notice how well your cloak blends in with your surroundings. Could come in handy.
Now a long while after you spot Schneep coming around the bend, and he catches up to you.
You greet him. "Well, that went well."
"It did. Did anyone try to talk to you?"
You shake you're head. "Not at all."
"Splendid. Well, we mustn't dilly dally. Carry on," he says as he gestures the way. And so you do.
Usually by now, you would imagine in your head Chase's house and it would then appear out of nowhere, teleporting you right to his front yard, a feeling things wouldn't go well if you tried. So walking will have to do.
After many nonexistent hours pass, you finally see the trees start to thin, and open to reveal a meadow. And the single white house standing in the center. You notice the blinds are drawn, and no lights are seen. It makes you wonder, as you and Schneep approach, if he is even home.
You stop at the bottom of the steps that lead to the porch and take off your mask and hood. You take a deep breath, exhale, then approach the door.
You knock thrice, slightly expecting to hear shuffling, but there's no answer.
"Chase?" You call out, then knock again.
"Maybe he is just not home," Schneep says from behind you.
You stare at the door and shake your head. "No... He's in there. I can feel it." You try calling again. "Chase? It's me, (y/n). I just want to make sure you're okay."
Nothing.
"Maybe we can come back after we see Marvin, hm?" Schneep suggests.
"Chase? We're coming in."
"What?" The doctor exclaims.
"Do not be alarmed."
"(y/n), are you sure?"
You twist the knob, it's locked.
"See? He's not home. We'll come back later."
"Step back," you say.
"(y/n), I don't think-" he gets off the porch as you back up. "What are you-?"
You run towards the door.
"This isn't- Ah!"
You kick the door open with a bang. Inside is dark and cold, almost too dead, but you step inside anyways.
"Breaking and entering," you hear Schneep mutter under his breath as he follows you in. "We are breaking and entering-"
"Sh," you silence him. "Chase?" You look around the living room. It is only clean, minus the occasional Nerf dart laying here and there. But overall, it is well kept. The shelves and mantle over the fireplace only have a thin layer of dust on them, and the photos that decorate them. Photos elusive to you, but significant to him. You follow them along the wall, and as you get closer to the kitchen, the worse things become.
You notice broken glass on the floor, mixed with more darts, but the glass isn't from any mirror. It's curved, as if made from a bottle.
Then you see the dozens of alcohol bottles scattered around the dining room. Some in pieces, and some only half fill on the table. He's been drinking a lot.
"Oh. Chase..."
Did you cause this? We're you the reason he went back into this slump? The fear you caused him. It is most likely you did.
Also on the table is a turned down picture frame, next to some burnt candles and more bottles. The chair is pulled out, so obviously this is where Chase was once sitting. But obviously not now. You pick the frame up and see its a photo of a large blurry mass. You recall that you can't see his kids because it is yet to be confirmed what they look like. But you know it's of them.
He was mourning his kids too. As he was scared about you, he must have come back here and seen these pictures and then fell even further into the hole.
You set the frame up, and continue your way around, accidentally kicking over a couple empty bottles. This obviously isn't a one day thing. No, he's been in his drinking habit for a very long time. You wonder if this could have been from back when you became queen. Or started to make him nervous.
This must be why he isn't staying in the castle. He is a safe distance from you, he can be around photos of his kids, and no one can find about how often he drinks.
Schneep picks up an empty bottle and smells it. "Beer. It smells like the rest of the house. Been open a while. Must be old."
It takes all your willpower to not say "No shit, Sherlock."
You go into the kitchen to find havoc. Even more bottles from a variety of alcoholic beverages. But what is even worse, is seeing not a Nerf, but a real hand gun on the floor next to an island counter.
"Holy fuck." You run to the other side of the island, and in the corner of two cabinets on the floor is Chase, hands and legs sprawled out, and surrounded by more bottles. His hat covers his slouched head and eyes.
"Fuck," you say as you run and kneel to him. You take off his hat to see his eyes are closed, and no blood in sight.
So he didn't shoot. Be must have been tempted, but decided not to, and threw the gun away out of reach, then passed out.
"Schneeplestein! He's here."
The doctor runs into the kitchen.
"Check his heart," you command. "Is it beating?"
He swiftly takes out the stethoscope from his satchel, puts it on Chase's chest, and listens. He moves it to different places around his body.
"He has a heartbeat, but not at a healthy pace. It is way too slow. The amount of alcohol in his system is slowing his heart rate down dangerously significant."
You turn back to Chase and grab his shoulders. He smells of spilled beer and you want to gag. "Chase, wake up. We're going to help you."
He exhales, but doesn't wake. You stand up and find a glass in a cupboard. Then fill it with cold water from the sink, and then splash it onto his face.
"FUCKING JESUS... CHRIST!" Chase shudders violently and clangs empty bottles, sending them rolling across the floor. "What the fucking hell was that for!?" He sits up, and tries to stand as he wipes water from his dripping face. He stumbles and clings onto the edge of the sink for support.
"Chase..." You say calmly.
"What!?" He yells as he swings his head around to look at you. When your eyes meet and he realizes it's you, his fogged eyes grow narrow and sharp.
"You..." he growls. "You!"
"Chase. We- I, want to talk to you."
"Well I don't want to hear anything you have to say. So why don't you just... Fuck off! Leave me be."
Something sparked inside you. You clench your fists. "Because if I left you alone, you'd poison yourself from the excessive amount of alcohol you've drunken. If you haven't already! I see that gun, you were going to kill yourself! You'll die, Chase!"
He laughs drunkily. "I can't die! No matter how hard I might try, I won't! Can't! I'd just leave this plane of existence and everyone would be like wooooaaaahhhhhh and they wouldn't CARE!" He can't keep his feet under him and he slips and slides in the puddle of water trying to stand. He laughs again. "But you..." he walks towards you, stumbling. You back up against the counter. "You don't know what it's like to die. Because when you do you can't come back. That's why it must be easier for your to make other people WANT TO KILL THEMSELVES!" He then lunges towards you.
But Schneep grabs hold of him just in time and you escape his reach.
He growls and struggles. Then sees it's Schneep who is holding him back, then stomps on his foot. And he lets go immediately. And Chase chases you.
You run into the living room, tripping on bottles, and, despite being drunk as fuck, Chase somehow catches you, grabs you by the shoulders and slams you against a wall, sending some picture frames to the floor.
He gets in your face, his breath of beer making your face scrunch up. His eyes are full of pain and regret, and his hair is dropping in water and so tossed you can tell he hasn't showered in over a week. Except for the one you just gave him.
"Why... Are you here?" He asks. "I don't... Want you here." His head limps to the side but he picks it back up. "I don't want to see your... Face... ever again!"
"I came to apologize."
He laughs, and it actually scares you a little. "For what? Murdering an ego? For sending me away to live in fear, playing that scene over... And over inside my head like a projector... Thinking that you were gonna do that exact same thing to me?"
"Chase..." You say slightly hurt.
"I don't want your apology... I... I just want my kids back." He starts to cry, then he slams your shoulders up again. "WHY DID THEY HAVE TO LEAVE?"
Schneep finally comes around and pulls him off you. You step away as he sits Chase down in a chair in the dining room. He cries, but stares daggers at you from his red, sleepless eyes.
"Chase," Schneep says. "(y/n) and I are headed to Marvin's. We need a remedy for her so she can feel more human." You can tell he's not telling him the entire truth in fear of triggering him. "And (y/n) insisted we check up on you. And well... Based on the conditions you are in now... As a doctor, I'd say it might be best you'd come along as well. So we can watch you. And maybe Marvin has something to help you feel like yourself again."
Chase looks at Schneep, and nods. Then he looks at you with a dead glance.
"Sleep now," you say. "and we will all head to Marvin's at wake."
He growls, "I don't want you sleeping in any of my rooms."
"I'll be on the couch. I promise I won't touch anything."
He stands up with the help of Schneep. "Good."
And he is then helped upstairs to his room.
As he does that, you plop on the couch, wrapped in your cloak and head resting on a decorative pillow. Burying your face in fabric. Feeling slightly hurt that this is what Chase has been doing for at least a month. And that he claims you're part of the reason why.
When the doctor comes back down he sees you laying on the couch. "He's asleep. Put him on a bed and he was out like a light. I might stay up there so he doesn't find anything else to drink."
You nod, cloak clutched to your neck.
Schneep sighs. "This wasn't your fault. This is just who he is. Jack made him this way. You didn't influence him to do anything."
You just nod again. Even though you know he's completely right, there's still a pang of guilt weighing in your stomach. You turn over. "Good Fall, Doctor."
"Good Fall," he replies, then heads back upstairs.
And you too, are almost out like a light.