Apologies for the really long hiatus. 😅 Honestly didn't realise it has been this long, but here is the new chapter hope you enjoy ✨
//TW// gore, talks of death, swearing //
He woke up abruptly. Before he could even calm his breathing down enough, he noticed one thing.
His son was not there.
He quickly dragged himself out of his bed.
"Plant?! Sweetheart?!" He called out as he ran downstairs.
And nothing. His son was nowhere to be seen.
..
"Where?...." He muttered as he looked around as if his son could be hiding from him as a prank.
Sick prank if you ask him, but still.
Still nothing. David thought about where they could be. They weren't supposed to be with Lucas today; he knows that since they were just with him yesterday. So where could they have gone?
"The guild hall!" David concluded as he jumped out of his house and made a beeline to the guild hall.
All he felt was his heart trying to escape from his throat, his feet as they repeatedly hit the ground, his lungs as they burned with each breath he took. He wished that everything was okay, but he knew. Somehow, he knew. He knew that was far from his reach.
As he neared the guild hall, he felt a feeling of dread wash over him, and for a second, he hesitated. Just as he was about to enter the guild hall, he hesitated. That second of hesitation made way for David to notice a horrid smell.
He knew that smell too well. Way too well. It was blood, the horrible metallic smell that he was way too familiar with.
That realisation forced his two feet to continue stepping forward. Entering the guild hall, though, again rooted him to the spot. David didn't know if he should scream, cry, vomit or all of the above as he took in the scene before him.
Inmo.
The Mail cat. Her name was Lara? Yeah, Lara.
Fire boy. No. Fuarn. His name is Fuarn.
..
.
.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Scream it is.
"RITCHIE! BRANDON!" David called out as he hurried his way up to their office. His legs carried him up the stairs while his mind couldn't stop thinking about what he just saw. He was sure that they would be forever burned into his mind.
He finally reached the top of the stairs. With this unexplainable dread, he burst through the office doors to address the twins, and he made immediate eye contact with Ritchie..
..
"AHHHHHHHHHHH"
Except. Ritchie's head was on his desk while his body lay unmoving on the floor, fallen from his chair.
This is not what David was expecting. He was expecting his guild leaders to be in the room just discussing things about the guild or making future decisions. But no. Ritchie, probably the strongest in the guild, lies dead with his head severed from his body. David is confused. No. He is horrified. What could have—wait.
Brandon. Where is Brandon?
...
..
Oh God.
No.
No. No.
That can't be possible.
He must be dreaming. Because there is no way that he is also ... dead.
...
David cautiously walked forward, making it a point not to look in Ritchie's direction. As he walked towards Brandon, he felt hesitation in every single one of his steps. But he needed to know if there was just a sliver of a chance.
Brandon was sitting like a puppet with cut strings on his chair. His head tilted backwards, resting nicely on the back of his chair. What worried David though was the sword that impaled him. It pierced through the back of the chair and then into Brandon. Blood was lazily dripping off the blade of the sword.
As David reached Brandon, he was holding onto a thin string of hope that there would still be a heartbeat. Just a little beat, that's all he asked for.
He put his hand to Brandon's neck and felt as if his legs would give out under him when he couldn't find any heartbeat.
But he couldn't afford to fall apart now. He just found his two guild leaders dead. Not to mention everyone downstairs.He couldn't. Not when his son's scream woke him up. Someone he still needed to find.
So he walked away, grabbed a communication lacrama and without a glance back....He left. He walked down the stairs and just headed straight for the exit of the guild hall. He could cry about all of this later.
He still first needed to find his son.
.
..
.
..
.
Who would have thought that...
Somehow...
Divinus Magia has turned into a Morgue?
..
.
One.
By.
One.
David kept finding his guildmates one by one.
Sally. No. Saleen? Yes, her.
Her speedy partner. Their name was leaving David's memory, which just made him feel way worse. They died on the island being a part of the guild, his family, and he couldn't even give them the closure to be remembered by their name.
He found them near the houses. Embracing each other. With way too much blood pooling around them. At least they had one another in death too.
.
Near them.
Blake.
It looked as if she was just leaving her house when she got struck. And when David says struck, he means it. She looked like a pincushion.
.
Devin.
He found him in his garden. No, not his garden. Devin's garden. He was certain that legs couldn't bend that way, but he forced himself to stop staring before he could continue analysing it.
.
And he was pretty sure that from the corner of his eyes he could see a body hanging off the railing of Ms. P's ship but he didn't dare look. He is already trying not to vomit all of his insides out and that wouldn't be helping his case.
.
Kit.
Mario.
He found those two at Tapio's grave. From the looks of the scene, Mario looked to be trying to protect Kit using his body. Of course Pebbles would try his best to protect his little sister.
But unfortunately, it didn't look to be too successful since they are just now both impaled by the same weapon.
..
.
Two left.
Just.
Two.
David felt faint as if he could pass out any second.
Maybe that would mean that he could join his guild. No.
He can't think that when there are still two left. Well, three, since he hasn't seen a feather of Polly.... Or that guy.... Indoles, yes, him. So four. But right now he honestly only cared about two.
David really needs to snap himself out of it. He is pretty sure he stepped on some flowers while walking through the garden, but he couldn't make himself care.
Which wasn't like him.
But David didn't know how anyone could be themselves after going through what he did just now. Thus he is giving himself a pass.
Nonetheless. He still had two to find.
Even though he was coming up with nothing. He already went through almost the whole garden. He thinks... He was more or less certain that he was closer to Bjorn's memorial now.
Looks like he will have to make more of those.
He knew he was nearing the memorial when he could see the top part of Bjorn's statue. It only took him about a minute to see the whole memorial and the.....
The...
..
the..
.
..
.
..
"NO!"
David's feet were moving before he could fully process the situation. Because those were the last two.
Lucas.
And his dear son.
Both motionless and crumpled, in front of the memorial...
David reached them in seconds. Already reaching to feel for a pulse before he could even fully settle on the ground next to them. With hurried gentleness, he adjusted Plant's limp body to be able to press his fingers to the side of their neck.
Just under the jaw. Near the windpipe.
David recited to himself as he prayed. He didn't know who to. But still. He prayed... Just for something. Anything.
Please.....
..
.
But...
There was nothing. Not even a flicker.
"No...." David breathed as it hit him. His son. The young chocolate milk-obsessed gremlin. His dear plant child....
...is dead.
"No.... No." He sobbed out. He didn't even know he had started crying. But now here he is, crying his heart out as he cradles his dead child's body.
Oh, Lucas would never let him live it down if he saw what a crybaby he turned into.
David suddenly gasped.
Oh my God. Lucas.
He suddenly whipped around to see the unresponsive body of Lucas. He gently deposited the body of his child onto the ground while he not-so-gently tried to feel for a pulse on Lucas's neck.
How could he forget about Lucas. Puddle boy. His... His little brother.
Please... At least don't take him away from me too...
..
.
Nothing...
There was nothing...
"Fuck... Fuck!. David slammed the ground near him. He felt a shiver run up his arm, but he just couldn't care. How could he... When they were dead.
He couldn't even be there to defend them... To..
To...
To die with them.
...
..
.
"NO!" He ripped himself away as he shot off the ground, "This can't be real! No! No, it can't!" He pleaded as he stumbled backwards.
He didn't make it far before his legs collapsed underneath him.
Now he was full-on sobbing, more like wailing in front of the last two... The last two he wished wouldn't go somewhere where he couldn't follow.
He just kept on crying... and crying. The weight of finding everyone dead finally hitting him.
Along the way, he started shaking... Violently. He could feel shivers running through his whole body. His legs were slowly going numb... and just leaving the feeling of cold behind.
Slowly everything around him started to blur out. Slowly disappearing into the background. Slowly all his senses just became... cold. As he sat there crumpled... Sobbing. Grieving the loss of his guild.
His loved ones.
His family...
..
.
..
.
.
.
.
Warmth slowly started seeping into his bones as David's senses rebooted. He didn't know how long he had been... there. How long he stayed there shedding tears. He remembers after a while just feeling numb... Like he ran out of tears to cry.
But now...
He could feel warmth slowly spreading across his body. He could also feel the cold of his body. Everything under his abdomen felt numb and cold. The cold lines on his face. The cold spread up his arms from his hands. The cold... Just the cold... He was cold.
Which is ironic.
Yet. There was now warmth seeping into those numb limbs of his. As he felt himself shaking and being shaken...
What? Someone is... Shaking him?
His eyes slowly started to finally focus just as his ears gave way for sound.
"--vid! Co– on!"
"-nap o– of it!"
As he started to become more aware he realised... That didn't sound like anyone from the Protectors..
Or Grimshade..
Or those clowns..
It sounded like....
He finally. Finally, he slowly looked up. Blinking rapidly, trying to get the blur out of his sight. And that's when he saw him.
Mario.
Kneeling before him with his hands on his shoulders. Looking at him. He had no blood on him... He was...
Breathing.
Alive.
He was alive.
"Are you back with us now, David?" Mario asked with a light smile on his face that didn't fail to give away his relief.
..
.
..
"David?" He asked cautiously.
David knew he was waiting for an answer, but he just couldn't. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't get his mouth moving to give a response. So..
He did the only thing he knew he could do.
..
.
"Woah!" Mario yelped. He probably feels really uncomfortable right now. But David didn't care as he tightened his arms around the dragon slayer. Hiding his face in the crook of his neck and just... feeling...
The warmth of an alive person. He felt every single one of the breaths Mario took. The fast pace of his heart beat. And as Mario's arms circled around him to return the embrace.
"There, there, big guy." Mario patted his back reassuringly, "Everything's okay. You're okay."
This was so out of character for him. Like, he isn't even really a hug person! But... He just couldn't make himself care. Not at the moment. Not when he was holding someone he thought was dead.
It was comforting. It gave him relief that at least someone... someone was still alive. He didn't even want to know how Mario was still alive from.... that.
Yeah. He didn't give one flying fuck right now.
He just wanted to hide away from the world, and this predicament was doing a great job at that.
..
"It's okay, David." He could hear Mario still talking to him, "I'm... We're here. We are okay... and alive." Even though those words were meant as a comforting gesture. David stilled.
Wait... We?
"What?..." His voice was so gritty as he spoke, but David guessed that that is what happens when someone sobs their heart out for who knows how long. He slowly started releasing Mario to give him an outright confused look, before he realised.
That last he checked, Mario didn't have three hands.
This made him move a bit faster as he quickly turned to his right. Where he spotted the source of his 'warmth'...
"Kit?..." He whispered in such a low voice that he didn't think that she heard him. But as she placed her hand, which was previously on his back, on his cheek, she looked at him with a reassuring smile.
"What's up?" She asked so casually as if what David experienced earlier today weren't all just turned upside down.
Because, yeah, Mario being alive was weird, but he didn't want to question it for his mental sake, but... Kit too?
Has he gone delirious?
"You're alive.... too?" He couldn't stop the words from rolling off his tongue, but this just all felt too good to be true...
But God, did he really have to sound so broken?
..
"Oh, David.." Kit breathed out as she pulled him into a hug. "Yes. Yes, of course. We are okay.."
They stayed in that hug for a minute or two, not as long as the one with Mario, but long enough to give the confirmation to David that she indeed was alive.
As they pulled apart, he only had one question in his head replaying. Even though he didn't really, initially, want to ask, he can't fully ground himself with all of this punching him in the face.
"But...how?" David hesitated, "I saw... I saw you two dead..." He didn't really want to say specifically how he found them.... As he didn't want all that to come back as a mental image. So, he left it simple.
" I–I know..." Kit admitted, "Which, I am not going to lie, was really disorienting to see, but David...."She sighed cautiously,"That wasn't us."
David shook his head in confusion, making sure he heard her correctly. Because that didn't make sense. It was them; he was sure of it. Right? He knows he didn't really go up to the bodies, but still... It had to be them.
"David..." Mario started. Though he waited till David's attention was fully on him before he continued.
"This...place. Everything here. It isn't real. It's just a horrifyingly realistic and super-detailed fucking dream." Mario said as more and more frustration showed in his tone.
He knew from the way Mario looked at him that he hoped David would believe him. And, he was sure that he was staring at Mario as if he had grown another head.
"What the fuck do you mean by that?" He asked, perplexed.
His world just turned upside down where he thought his whole family was dead. Then again, it turned upright when it turned out, no, not everyone is dead. And now, He says it's a fucking dream. Like those boring stories where at the end it all turns out to just be a dream?
Fuck. No.
There is no way that this isn't real. He came into contact with multiple bodies, trying to grab unreachable threads to find something in their pulse. But all came back with what?
Nothing.
Yes, he didn't go up to Mario or Kit. Maybe they were clones or some kind of illusion to make sure he thought everyone was dead even though they were survivors.
He felt the cold, the numbness, and the pain all settle into his bones, making it impossible for this to be not reality.
"David..." Mario tried to reason as he reached for his hand.
"No!" He snapped as he stumbled back to his feet to back away. "This has to be real! I–They didn't have pulses! And–And I could touch them; they were real. Their bodies were real!"
They are dead. All dead. This can't be a dream. It wouldn't be possible. Dreams aren't this detailed. But why would they say it's a dream?
Mario wouldn't try to lie about reality for his sake; he would tell him straight up, and Kit would try to sugarcoat it but not just lie.
Why would they–
"David, they are telling the truth."
What? That wasn't Mario's voice.
"Ritchie?... B-Brandon?..."
His legs carried him without command towards the twins. David walked past Kit and Mario with no effort. They might have moved out of his way, but he wasn't fully paying attention to them.
His attention was on the twins.
As he neared them, he couldn't help himself from a glance at Ritchie's neck. He knows that it is stupid since Ritchie's head is right where it needs to be, but he still wanted to make sure that there was nothing.
And that it was. Nothing. No scar. No bandage hiding an injury. Nothing. Which made David sigh out of relief.
Though he still needed to do something to prove to himself he wasn't going insane.
..
He stopped barely an arm's length away from Brandon.
David took a deep breath before hesitantly reaching his shaking hand up and reaching for under Brandon's jaw. He needed to know. He just needed to know if his eyes were playing tricks on him or not.
No one reacted to the slight flinch he had as he came into contact with Brandon, and he was glad for it. He pressed his two fingers to the right spot with bated breath. And he waited and waited. And then he felt it...
A pulse. A strong, persistent pulse of someone who is alive.
"It's alright, Snowman," He felt as Brandon grasped his wrist in a reassuring hold, "We are okay. Everyone is alive. I promise."
Alive.
Everyone. Is. Alive.
"T-They're o-okay...." David didn't think he had any more tears left to cry in him, but he was proven wrong as he crumpled as a sob broke out of his body. It was like the final dam broke.
Brandon, who caught him with ease, lowered them to the ground and then just held him as David let everything spill out. The relief. The joy. The sadness. The– The anger.
..
He felt another pair of arms wrap around them.
..
And then a smaller hand on his back in a reassuring circle motion just like before.
..
And then one final strong, sturdy hand on his shoulder as it put a reassuring weight on it.
"We are not that easy to get rid of, Snow Queen," Mario said lightheartedly.
David gave a chuckle to that as he let everything sink in. Everyone is alive and well. He is alive. They are alive.
"Everyone's okay..." He said barely loud enough to be a whisper, "This isn't real–"
...
"-It's just a stupid dream."
And everything faded into just... black.
*
David woke up more drained than he has ever been in his whole life. And with the biggest headache of his life too.
Ow.
He sat up from the cold floor, already clutching his head, trying to soothe his headache. Then David felt someone grasp his shoulder.
It was Mario kneeling in front of him.
"Ha, you just can't leave me alone today, Pebbles." David said playfully. He watched as tension rolled off of Mario at those words.
"Good to have you back, David," He responded. "How are you feeling?"
"What do you think?" Okay, David didn't really mean to put that much bite into his words, but honestly, can you blame him? Even Mario seemed to think as he flinched away from his words.
Though it did make him feel bad still.
"Honestly fucking drained and got a bastard of a headache right now." He started as he brushed Mario's hand off his shoulder, "It's getting better though, if that makes you feel better." He finished dismissively.
"Well, it's the best I can get right now, so I'll take it." Mario responded.
David could get that; honestly, this place was still making his mind spin in confusion. But it also looked like he wasn't the only one that went through his own hell as he took a glance around at his guildmates.
Everyone looked uptight at best.
"So," David hesitantly started, not knowing what this question would get him into but still needing answers,"An explanation about this personification of hell would be appreciated."
"Ah, yes,"Kit started as she scooted closer to him and Mario,"Alright. Well, from our understanding at this point, this place–"
..
.
..
"What you're saying is," cautioned David,"Is that this hellhole of a place that took all of us, separated us from each other, and has put each of us in these dream-vision things that, mind you, aren't dreams. More like fucking nightmares!"
Before anyone could give David either a confirmation or a denial, he continued his rant.
"And! Not to mention this place is using trial and error to learn from us so it could make sure that we can not leave!" He added on.
"Precisely, yes–" Brandon confirmed before being interrupted by David.
"Oh, and I can't forget! That all of you decided to make the poor choice of fucking following suit after us into this place, getting most of Divinus Magia stuck in here too was a good idea?!" David finished as he levelled a glare at the others. Minus Mario.
David could see Mario nod in agreement next to him.
At least Brandon had the gall to look a bit ashamed. The other two just looked at him as if he grew two heads.
As if asking, 'What else did you expect?'.
David doesn't know how he tolerates them, honestly. Though he can't deny he isn't glad to see them getting along to an extent.
Still.
This is bad. They are all stuck here, being forced into breaking boundaries of the people they hold close to them. David doesn't even want to get into what they witnessed with him.
He already ignored all attempts that were made about the topic.
There are four more people left. Devin, Blake, Inmo, and of course Lucas. Because he can't get the relief of seeing his brother alive now, can he?
Okay. Maybe 'bad' is an understatement.
..
.
"Alright," David prompted as he stood from the ground, eyeing the room. Trying to decide which doorway led to the next person.
"David, are you sure?" Kit started looking at him with concern.
David could see what the next words would be out of her mouth. He gets it to an extent. They are worried; it's the first time any of them have seen him like how he was in the dream. Hell, even the twins haven't seen him like that.
Only a few select have. But that is thanks to a nervous breakdown he had in the demon book.
"Don't you want to–" Kit started.
"No. What I want is to get out of this fucking hellhole." David shot back before she could finish that question.
..
.
"Yes, we should continue." Ritchie got up as well,"Don't want to leave the others in their dreams too long, now do we?"
"Right," Mario stood as well.
"That doorway is where we need to go," Brandon pointed to the doorway to David's left.
Without even waiting for a response from the others, David went through to go to the next room. He could still hear them behind him, so it isn't like he left them in the dust.
He just really wanted to get this over with.
He stepped into the new room and instantly saw who would be next on their privacy-breaching activity. He heard the others arrive in the room behind him.
He also heard the small gasps that exited Mario and Kit. The sigh that escaped Ritchie. He didn't hear anything from Brandon, but he didn't expect to.
"Alright, Lost Child, let's see how this will go." David accepted as he walked towards his unconscious guildmate.
Who was Blake.
And soon enough, just like he was explained by the others. Everything turned black.
*
"Okay, this is trippy," Kit said as she took in their surroundings.
David agreed with her statement. This was weird. He expected something else; he wasn't going to lie. Honestly, anything but this.
"We are..." Mario started hesitantly.
"Yes," David confirmed the question he knew was going to leave the dragon slayer's mouth, "We are outside of the temple."
Now the real question is...
Where is Blake?