-To test your faith- Part 2

Time Baby was… very peeved when Ax told him that he wasn't allowed to call on me unless it was an absolute emergency. I tried very hard not to look smug while he fumed. I'm pretty sure he thought it was unfair that Ax was actually taking my side.

Wait.

Ax was taking my side?

Huh. That's… amazing. I know he wasn't supposed to… something must be wrong. Was the universe going to fall apart? Was this the end of times?! Ax poked me. "Eep!" Ok that was REALLY annoying! I'm certain by now that Ax was paying me back for all the poking I gave him over the years.

Poke.

"DDDDXXJK!!!!" I shrieked, slapping my hands around wildly. Ax actually laughed at me, more lighthearted than I've ever seen him. I could see Time Baby laughing too. I hissed and batted Ax's hand away when he went in for another poke. Once I had myself protected, I turned to Time Baby. "Um… can we still do Hauntfest?"

He stopped laughing and glared but after a while he sighed. "CIPHER. WE NEED TO TALK." I blinked. "Like, talk talk or you yell at me while I ignore you talk?" That got me an annoyed look. "TALK. I THINK THERE ARE MANY THINGS WE NEED TO CLEAR UP."

Ax swam away and left us to it. I fiddled with my bowtie. There was quiet for a while in Time Baby's personal chambers. He seemed to be thinking very hard about something. Or maybe he was constipated, fuck if I knew what that expression meant. Time Baby sighed. "WE DO NOT GET ALONG." He started. I scoffed. Understatement of the millennia. "AND YET THE AXOLOTL WOULD SPEAK UP FOR YOU. HE WISHES THAT WE WOULD GET ALONG."

"Ax has always wanted the three of us to just… work together in harmony or something." I shrugged. Time Baby rubbed at his face. "YES. I AM WELL AWARE." he frowned heavily. "I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY HE BELIEVES SUCH A THING IS POSSIBLE. YOU ARE CHAOS. YOU ARE INSTABILITY. WHY DOES HE BELIEVE YOU CAN BE BETTER?"

"....because I try to be?" I flicked my bowtie, unable to really look at him. "Which I utterly fail at. Over and over again." Gosh I was bad at this. That Stanford was right. I'm just awful. Time Baby stared at me. "WELL YOU CERTAINLY HAVE FAILED. YOU'RE A MESS."

I twitched. My power burned inside me, wanting to lash out. How dare he talk to me like that? I closed my eye and trembled, clamping down on the molten force within me. No. Calm. Calm. Losing control would just make things worse. Getting mad and sniping back would just be making things worse. It's what Stan said.

My instincts screamed at me, not wanting to let this go. My pride snarled at me, not wanting to let the insult slide. I hissed and clenched my fists until the rage subsided. When I opened my eye, Time Baby was regarding me quietly.

"What?" I ground out. He had the gall to laugh at me. "SEEING YOU STRUGGLE IS FUNNY." I scowled. "You're not making this easy." He shoved his whole fist in his mouth, muffling his laughter. I glared but managed to hold back from anything more. Finally, he finished laughing and pulled his fist out, there was drool everywhere. Ugh.

"SO YOU ARE TRYING HARDER. CUTE, BUT ULTIMATELY POINTLESS IF YOU CAN'T KEEP THAT UP." He stared at me. "YOU KEPT YOUR TEMPER THIS TIME. BUT WHAT OF NEXT TIME? OR THE ONE AFTER THAT?"

I glared. "It's not like you don't lose your temper either. And your tantrums can destroy things just as bad as mine."

"IT'S NOT THE SAME." He claimed, which frustrated me to no end. "How is it not the same?" I practically spat at him. He turned sober as he stared at me. "YOU'RE MORE POWERFUL THAN ME. YOU'RE CAPABLE OF MUCH MORE DEVASTATING DAMAGE."

...did he just ADMIT that I'm stronger than him?

"But that doesn't make your own tantrums right. You're just as much in the wrong as I am with losing your temper." I pointed out. Time Baby scoffed. "IT MATTERS NOT."

"The hell it doesn't." I pointed out. "Look, while we're here, can I ask you something?" I sighed. "Why do we HAVE to stick with what we got? Why can't you just roll back time to prevent problems?" I stared at him. "Like when that planet got infected and I was forced to eat them. Why…" I felt pretty frustrated about this whole thing. "Why couldn't we have just rewound the planet to when the infection didn't start yet… and then just destroyed the virus before it got that bad?"

Before he could respond, I continued, "I know you have your timeline, I know it's a lot of trouble, but WHY do you HAVE to stick to your Timeline? Why can't we deviate if a change can make the world better?"

He scoffed. "A SMALL CHANGE CAN SNOWBALL INTO CATASTROPHIC CHANGES DOWN THE LINE. AND I WOULD LIKE TO KEEP THE CREATION OF ALTERNATE TIMELINES TO A MINIMUM. IT'S SIMPLY TOO MUCH TROUBLE."

I can't tell what he's thinking, but I could feel this wasn't the whole reason. And I KNEW what the real reason was. "You're just scared." I narrowed my eye at him. "You're just afraid of deviation because then you won't know what's going to happen."

"ORDER IS STABILITY! ORDER IS CONTROL. I HAVE TO KEEP EVERYTHING IN LINE SO THE UNIVERSE DOESN'T FALL INTO CHAOS!" the look on his face made it clear what he thought about that. "You're just scared." I continued. "I get that. But life IS weird and unpredictable. There's nothing wrong with that. You don't have to micromanage the timeline. Everyone else...the mortals don't have any idea what their fates are, and maybe… you shouldn't either?"

Time Baby drew himself up and scowled. "I AM THE GOD OF FATE. IF I SAY THIS IS WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN, THEN THIS IS WHAT SHALL HAPPEN."

I glared back. "And I'm Death and I say NO." I put my hands on my bottom corners. "Frankly, I don't like killing people. It happens, sure, because I'm an idiot with terrible anger management problems, but I don't like it. And you know what? I'm a Death god who doesn't like death." After all, I can grant immortality. I knew how. As someone who very well understood what it took to kill someone, I knew even better how to prevent it. And, maybe it's paradoxical that a Death god would be so interested in preserving life, but I'm made of paradoxes. The multiverse's biggest hypocrite.

"I don't want to kill for you anymore." I told him simply. "And I don't want to be your enemy. We're supposed to work together, but I don't like you, and you hate me. But that doesn't mean we can't just agree to disagree." I was trying really hard. I don't like Time Baby and maybe I never will, but I don't want to be his enemy, if only because of the inconvenience it would cause my friends.

Time Baby sighed. "I DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU GOT THE AXOLOTL ON YOUR SIDE. BUT JUST BECAUSE HE SAYS I CANNOT ASK FOR YOUR SERVICES DOESN'T MEAN I WON'T BE DOING EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO PRESERVE MY TIMELINE."

"Look, I'm not touching your shit and you leave MY shit alone. That's all it is." I sighed, too tired of this to really argue more. Speaking with Time Baby was always exhausting. He sighed, looking almost as weary as I felt. "THERE IS A JOB I WILL NEED YOU TO DO IN A FEW CENTURIES. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT TASK. IF YOU DON'T DO THIS, AN ENTIRE DIMENSION WILL FALL TO RUIN." He said at last.

I knew he was guilting me into agreeing. He did that. All the time. "Can't you send your own guys to do this? For someone who doesn't trust me or like me, you sure do put all the important tasks on my head." I pointed out. He grimaced. "I WOULDN'T DO THIS IF I HAD ANY OTHER CHOICE. REGARDLESS OF HOW I FEEL, YOU ARE THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB. AND I CANNOT SEND MY EXTERMINATORS INTO THAT DIMENSION. I CAN BARELY GET AWAY WITH SENDING MY TIME ANOMALY REMOVAL CREW!"

"I told you that I don't want to kill for you anymore." I said simply. "And once again, your precious timeline is not MY problem. If you want this done right, you should do it yourself. You lazy butt." I was still on the fence about the whole…'deny Time Baby and just enter an actual conflict with the Federation' thing. But I also told myself I wouldn't kill for him anymore.

"I HAVE MANY IMPORTANT DUTIES. YOU JUST SPEND YOUR TIME PLAYING AROUND." Time Baby complained. Was he… whining? I narrowed my eye at him. "Well, it's not MY fault you're so anal about micromanaging the timeline. You COULD just let it be. What's the worse that can happen?"

"PARADOXES, UNREGULATED TIME TRAVEL, CHAOS…" Time Baby trailed off with a frown. "LOOK, I'M DOING THIS FOR THE GOOD OF THE MANY. WHAT'S A FEW MORTALS HERE AND THERE IF IT ENSURES THAT THE MAJORITY SURVIVE?"

"And I'm just saying, maybe… things don't need to be going as planned all the time." I really didn't want to argue. I had a headache, I was tired, I just wanted to go home. "I won't kill for you anymore." I repeated. Time Baby considered me for a while. "BUT YOU WOULD KILL FOR YOUR FRIENDS? SELFISHLY."

"It's not any better or worse than what I do for you. You want me to kill to protect the stability of the timeline, I want to kill to protect my family."

"THE TIMELINE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE LIVES OF A FEW MORTALS."

"Not to me." I told him firmly. "They are my Friends, my family. They're everything to me. And I'd rather kill because I choose to than have someone else telling me what to do. And at least the people I choose to kill are generally not good people." I know it doesn't make things better, but it made ME feel better about it.

Time Baby scowled. "YOUR FRIENDS-"

"-will ALWAYS be left alone, whether or not I do your job. This is between you and me, not them." I interrupted. Time Baby scowled but finally nodded. Dunno if he's gonna remember that, but I recorded our conversation anyway just in case. He glared when I clicked my Com off and put it away. "FINE." He folded his arms. "BUT IF YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT THE LIVES OF MORTALS SO MUCH, THIS UPCOMING JOB IS IMPORTANT. IF YOU DON'T DO IT, THE 3RD DIMENSION WILL BE DESTROYED."

I went cold. Wait, what? "This… involves the 3rd dimension?" I narrowed my eye. "I can't use my full powers in the 3rd dimension. You know that!" Time Baby scoffed. "I KNOW YOU HAVE WAYS AROUND IT."

"Not enough to do a job. No. I'm not--"

"IF YOU DON'T, THE 3RD DIMENSION WILL BE DESTROYED." Time Baby thundered. I twitched. "Uuuugh, what's even happening this time? What is so bad that the whole dimension is involved?!" Nevermind, I'll look it up myself. I turned away to Flicker and…

Huh.

"...why are they trying to end the world?!" I wailed. Seriously?! Messing with black magic was one thing. Purposly trying to end all life as they knew it was… what even the FUCK?!

….I will never understand mortals.

"YOU SEE NOW? WHY THEY HAVE TO BE DEALT WITH?" Time Baby had the gall, the utter GALL to look smug. I flipped him off, still seething at the utter stupidity of it all. Well, I didn't have to kill them, just make them not try this again. "I will make them stop, but I'll handle it my own way." I muttered out. Possibly, tearing the knowledge out of their minds would work just as well. "And wipe that stupid look off your face." I snapped at Time Baby. "This changes nothing, I still don't want to kill people for you."

But I wouldn't turn down a Deal either. What can I say? I'm pragmatic. "But seriously, leave my friends alone. This is between you and me." I told him again. I'm tired of this. All of this. It was stupid for me to think that Time Baby might actually be trying to get along with me. Either way, I got my Deal to do something about the damn idiots who think purposely destroying a dimension might be cool. I know I taught magic to mortals, and I know that humans are inventive enough to make up new spells and rituals-- but why this?! I flew into their dreams and straight up told them to stop what they were doing before I was forced to stop them myself. I wanted to give them a chance. That wasn't bad right?

They didn't take my warning seriously. Worse, they laughed at me. "Try a different spell, the demon we got is stupid. Summon another one!" I tried to keep my temper, I really did. But they were literally trying to kill everyone in the 3rd dimension, for fun! I even explained this all to them. But they still thought it'd be cool to try. "The complete destruction of the world? That's amazing! We can really do that with magic? We have to try out some of this on the small scale first!" One of them laughed. "I know someone I want to try that paralysis spell on." Another added, getting their friends to all cheer.

I… had no words.

So I said nothing.

I remained silent even as I tore their minds apart one by one and made their friends watch. Made them scream and try to run, to wake up and escape this nightmare. The ones I weren't currently tearing to shreds begged for mercy. They claimed they would stop. They claimed they wouldn't try something like this again.

I didn't stop.

Because they hadn't been lying when they all laughed about using this black magic they were learning to mess with people. To hurt people. Deliberately. Because that was what they found fun. And sure, I liked to mess with people too, but not like this. They wanted to hurt people.

Why?

Because they were bored.

So I tore them apart. I ripped out their knowledge of magic and how to use it. And then I turned my attention to something far worse. They weren't dead. Oh no. I'm not killing them. Heck, I wasn't even destroying their minds or sense of self.

But their brain to body connection? The ability to translate thought to action? I tore that out and crushed it. They would be fully aware and alert, just as they had always been, every bit still themselves.

But their body would no longer move when they tell it to. Trapped, fully aware, within their own living prison of flesh.

I normally turned people to stone to get this same effect, but my powers were limited in the 3rd dimension so mental attacks it was. Besides, if they truly felt bad I'll even put them back to normal. I'll check on them again some other time. I'm too angry right now to deal with them anymore.

They wanted to destroy the 3rd dimension, I couldn't allow that. Fuck no. That was my line.

---

Everything was on fire.

Shots were fired at me but none even came close. The physical bullets melted under the heat surrounding me, the laser shots were just as useless, even the plasma blasts were nothing more than softballs with how useless they were in even hitting me. I paid them all no mind. They were screaming at me, but I barely heard them over the roaring of the flames. I steadily made my way to my destination, melting anyone who was stupid enough to come close and with my eye focused on only one thing.

Pynelope's limp body.

She'd dug too deep. Pissed off one politician too many. I had been so proud when she released that article outing one of the board members as being part of the slave trade in the FidNix galaxy. With documented proof and everything.

Figured some people weren't as happy with her work as I was.

Still, I didn't think anyone would actually be dumb enough to try and kill her.

I noticed in time. Pure luck really. She was injured, severely wounded, but she wasn't dead (yet). But she was fading fast. I cleared the area around her so that I could work, her soul was slipping out.

I said no.

Snatching her soul was easy with me being right here. I held onto it, grasping the wriggling bit of light that held everything Pynelope was. I turned the rest of my attention on fixing her body. Healing the wounds she had died from. The heat was making it hard to see straight, the air around me vibrating. I had to make sure I didn't end up melting Pynelope too. I could see Jion's body nearby. Long dead. I couldn't get his soul, unfortunately. But I would preserve his body, he was Pynelope's friend, I would let her decide what to do with his body. Yoland's crumpled body was nearby as well, but she was a Prinny so I left it alone. Prinnys were already dead anyway.

I knit Pynelope's body back together from the mangled bullet riddled mess it was. I fixed her up even better than before. I had to pause to screech at some idiots trying to come close again, searing a larger ring of fire around me to make them back off, before I finally placed Pynelope's soul back into her body.

The first thing she did was gasp, jolting in place and spasming until she got control of her limbs again. I wrapped my arms around her, relief flowing through me. She was alive. She was alive.

"B-Bill? What?" Pynelope coughed, her limbs were still shaking. Well that was to be expected, being brought back to life was a taxing thing. She trembled in my arms, no strength to even lift herself. "I pressed a finger to her lips. "Don't talk, your lungs just finished regrowing." I picked her up, cradling her close even as i bubbled Jion and Yoland's bodies to keep safe. "Come on, you're going home for a while. I won't have you out and about while recovering." I Blinked us home to the Death Star, leaving behind the smoldering battlefield.

Pynelope was pretty out of it. She weakly tried to stand up again but flopped back down and I pet her hair gently as I placed her on her bed."It's okay ThermiePack. Just sleep. I'm here. You're safe." My rage had died down, she was safe now. She wasn't dead. And as soon as she was peacefully asleep, I was going to go back and track down every single person who shot at her. Not gonna kill them, no, I'm going to give them Pynelope. If she wanted to kill them herself, I didn't want to take away her fun.

My daughter eventually drifted off, I blinked my eye into a mouth to give her a kiss on her foreheard before leaving. I had some idiots to find.

---

Well at least they didn't attempt to lie to me or make excuses for what they did. I turned them all to stone and took them home with me to put in the dungeon. Pynelope will decide their ultimate fate. Everyone was quite somber back home. Pyronica was in her daughter's room, an expression on her face I couldn't quite understand. Her emotions were a mess as well. "Hey, you okay?" I asked her. For my part, I was content. After all, my little Thermal Pack was alive and safe with me. Sure she died, but I fixed it!

Pyronica sighed. She rubbed at her eye before finally turning to me. "Thank you for saving her." She told me. Which was ridiculous. "Of course I did! She's--" I sputtered, "--I couldn't just leave her!" Old age was one thing, getting shot to death by a whole battalion is another! Pyronica sighed. "What now? Will they keep coming after her? Will they go after Pyrone as well?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it " I growled. I was keeping as Eye on Pyrone. If they so much as go near the dimension where my son was living, I was going to eat them. Okay fine, maybe not eat them, maybe just a little biting. Just taking their arms off so they couldn't hold weapons. Because apparently my verbal threats weren't enough anymore. Geez, I go on my best behavior and people think they can pull this shit on me. Did they assume I had gone soft? What made them think this was a good idea? I made it quite clear that no one was allowed to touch my family.

Pyronica managed a quiet chuckle. "You're gonna threaten them again?" She reached for me and I allowed her to pluck me from the air and place in her lap. I nuzzled back against her. "I'm gonna make another example of them. I got like twenty assassins and three politicians currently locked in the dungeon."

"...Am I allowed a piece?" I felt her tremble a little. "Sure. Though Pynelope gets first dibs on all of them. I'm gonna broadcast this all over, just so people get the message."

Pyronica curled around me, her fire was roaring. "I'm so angry right now." She admitted. I knew. I could feel it. But I wasn't feeling it. That was good I suppose. I hummed. "Why aren't you more upset?" Pyronica asked, seemingly confused by how docile I was. My response was a shrug, "I already turned everyone involved into stone. I've got an eye on Pyrone in case they try anything, and Pynelope is safely here."

"Hm. I guess." Pyronica sighed again. "I hate this. Why can't they just leave us alone?"

"The guy lost his job because of 'Nelope's article." Tina's mom made sure of that, once she fact checked with her own investigation. Angry as he was, even he knew that sending assassins after the councilwoman wouldn't get him his job back, and would simply put him on the Federation's hit list. So he went after Pynelope out of spite. Frankly, I think he just forgot who he was messing with here. Well I was going to remind him and everyone else in this sector that no one touches what was mine.

On her bed, Pynelope stirred again, waking up slowly. We were at her side in an instant. "Are you feeling okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Pyronica asked her daughter. Pynelope groaned. "Mom?" She had better muscle control now, managing to turn over to face us. "Bill?"

"We're here." I held her hand. She seemed confused for a bit before her memories caught up with her and I watched her eye go wide. "Jion! He--"

"He's dead. I'm sorry. I didn't get there in time. I was more worried about you." I could see her process that as her expression crumbled. "...and Yoland?" She asked, looking miserable at the news that her friend was gone.

"Yoland's a Prinny. We just need to get to the nearest afterlife hospital and pay some money to summon her back." Prinnys were all already dead after all. The prinny system was put in place by a bunch of necromancers ages ago as a substitution for the Hell system of torturing sinners after their deaths before they reincarnated. Frankly, it was too expensive to uphold the Hell system, they had to pay for the upkeep of the pocket dimension, pay the Demon workers, pay to keep the facility running, electricity bills… It just wasn't worth it. The Prinny system on the other hand, trapped the souls of sinners and made them unable to reincarnate until they've worked off all their sins through manual labor, indentured servitude and other such things. Yoland is technically a free Prinny, having paid off on the sins she committed in life, but she didn't want to reincarnate yet. Which means she was still a Soul that could be called back.

...I maaaay have had a hand in designing the system. Just a bit. Unfortunately it didn't encompass more than a couple dimensions. And Jion wasn't from those dimensions. So there was nothing holding his Soul here and he'd gone off to Ax.

Pynelope slumped back over. "...So Jion's dead." She croaked, her voice getting stuck in her throat. "-'Nelope?" I squeezed her hand. She closed her eye and breathed. "I need to be alone."

"Of course. We'll be right outside if you need us." Pyronica kissed her daughter's horn before she stood up and gently picked me up to go outside. As the door slid shut, I heard the beginnings of a sob.

"Shouldn't we be with her?" I asked. Pyronica sighed, leaning against the wall. "She needs some time to grieve alone. This is personal. She doesn't want us to see."

"But…" I wanted to be there to comfort her. Pyronica shook her head. "No, let her have this. She'll come to us when she's ready."

And that was it. I didn't know what to do with myself. Pynelope hadn't been this bad off when Quakers passed away. I suppose it was because we all knew she was dying and Pynelope had the time to prepare herself for it, emotionally. Jion's death was sudden. I could understand that.

Will's death had been sudden. I… I hadn't even gotten to say anything to him. No important dying words, didn't even get to tell him I loved him. That had been the worst part. The lack of closure. So I guess I understood why she was so upset. I just… Still wanted to be there for her.

Hectorgon and Teeth came by. "Is she okay?" Teeth asked, much softer than his usual loud tone. Pyronica sighed. "I don't know yet. But she's a strong girl. She'll be alright." Her faith in her daughter was admirable. But I was worried. That faint trace of Despair I tasted from Pynelope was bitterly sour. Like rot. The decay of Self Loathing.

But I didn't know what to do about this. I wanted to go in there, tell her that none of it was her fault and she shouldn't blame herself for what happened. Hypocritic as that would be. I just didn't want her being alone right now. But I got the feeling that if I went in there, she'd get mad at me. Still, I couldn't stand the thought of her crying alone by herself. I peeked inside the room, watching her bury her face in her pillow. I didn't like hearing her cry. I focused my power and moved one of her dolls, an old one I got for her when she was a child (which she stopped playing with as she got older, but kept regardless) up to her bed and laid it beside her. She flinched and looked around, spotting the doll and there was a pause before she reached out to grab it and practically strangled the poor thing to herself as she went back to crying. But I felt better knowing she had something there for her.

Pyronica's nudge brought me blinking back to myself. "Bill, what were you doing?" She frowned at me. I huffed. "I was just checking on her." My friend's expression softened. Hectorgon sighed. "Come on, we should give her some space. And see about what the news is saying about this." I almost groaned at that. "You go ahead. I'm gonna wait here." Pyronica grimaced. "Me too."

Teeth and Hectorgon glanced at each other and then at us. "Alright then. We'll update you on the situation later."

And then they were off, out and down the hall through the door that appeared as they walked past the wall.

I leaned against Pyronica and slumped, feeling exhausted for some reason. I guess she felt the same, since she slid down to sit on the ground, laying me on her lap. Neither of us really seemed to know what to say since she didn't speak and neither did I.

---

Pynelope finally came back out. I asked her what she wanted to be done with the people who had attacked her, killed both her and her friend. She stiffened and her flames burned brighter before settling back to normal. "Where are they?" She asked at last. I brought her down to the dungeon. She spent a long time staring at the statues of her murderers, their faces caught in their final moments of terror. "Thermie Pack?" I asked, floating beside her. Finally, she told me, "Let them go."

"....so you can destroy them?" I asked as I reached forward to undo their petrification. Pynelope shook her head. "No. Let them go. Let them go free."

...I wasn't sure if I was understanding her. "Ah… so you can hunt them down yourself?"

"No Bill!" Pynelope turned to me, tears building in her eye. "Just-- just put them back where you found them. I don't--" She huffed. "I don't care. Just, let them go." I wasn't quite sure what she meant but… "Ah… you know your mom wanted to get a piece of them after you."

"Well she can't. Because we're not going to do anything to them." Pynelope sighed, rubbing her face. "Just let them go." I still didn't understand, but… if that was what she wanted...

The prisoners gasped for air and collapsed as I reversed the petrification. Another wave of my hand sent them tossed through a portal back to their own dimensions (and homes, I couldn't believe I was being so merciful). As the portal closed on their terrified screams, I turned to face Pynelope. "Are you okay?" I asked.

She certainly didn't look okay. "...you said we can bring Yoland back?" She finally asked. Well, if she wanted to. I took her with me to the hospital and handed over Yoland's body. Huh. She was a pretty old Prinny, the revival cost was quite expensive. Yoland squeaked when Pynelope enveloped her in a hug the second she was back. "Pynelope? Wh-where's Ji--"

"Jion's dead." Pynelope's voice wavered but firmed up as she added, "We're not going to let this stop us. Jion would be so pissed if we let them win." I backed up to let the two have a bit of privacy. Watching the two made me a little uncomfortable. I thought Pynelope must have been grieving in her own way. There was a fervor in her eye, a vehement insistence. I could see Yoland was worried as well. But she, like I, didn't know how to handle this, but the Prinny nodded along. "Of course. We got killed for exposing the truth, but that's not gonna stop us."

...it was at this point that I wondered if the reason Yoland refused to reincarnate was because she was technically immortal as a Prinny so long as someone was willing to pay to bring her back?

"Thermie? Do you wanna come home and rest? You're still not fully recovered from dying." I spoke up. But she shook her head. "I can't-- can't just sit around doing nothing. I have work to do."

I worried that she was trying to use work as a way to keep herself busy and distracted from what had happened. But when I attempted to get her to come home (where it was safe) with me, she only got angry. "No Bill, I have work to do! Those people who killed Jion need to be taken down."

"...so you do want to kill them?" I wasn't pleased by this, definitely not, what the heck do you mean? Pynelope snarled. "No. I'm going to expose them. I'll expose all of them. I'm gonna keep going. No matter how many times it'll take."

I suppose, in her own way, this is revenge. Probably more satisfying for her than simply killing them. Well, I'm very worried but without any idea how to deal with this, I just… let it go. All I could do was try and keep her safe as she continued her work. I only hoped it would be enough.

---

I was beginning to think Pynelope was dealing with her grief in an unhealthy way.

She was digging. Never stopped. She was putting herself into more and more dangerous situations in her quest to find the truth. Many secrets were unearthed, dirty laundry were displayed for all to see. Her articles were causing a lot of stir. Unrest. I continued to feel more and more uncomfortable at all this.

And, with all the people she was pissing off, and with how she had made me let her killers go free, people dared to come after her life again.

Of course I was there to protect her. I would always protect her. I had made a promise, back when she and Pyrone were born. But it was stressful. I had to keep an Eye on her all the time. She was so reckless. She kept getting hurt. She kept getting killed whenever my attention slipped for even an instant. I didn't have time to do my own thing anymore, my every moment spent watching her. I couldn't stand it.

I know I shouldn't be complaining, I wanted her safe. And alive. But being on alert all the time was being to wear me out. Me! Of all deities! I worried about her safety constantly. I had to shred my false Dreamscape just so I wouldn't fall asleep. So I could stay up and keep watch. Day after day after day after day--

"Bill." Pyronica knelt beside me as I trembled in front of the stove, breakfast burning in a bad way as my focus got pulled away by another breaking and entering stunt my daughter was pulling off. "Bill!" Pyronica nudged me. "The food is burning in the bad way!"

Once I saw Pynelope safely escape the building and Warp back home to her fortified (by me) apartment, I blinked slowly and brought my attention back to myself. "Oh shit." I stared at the blackened meat. Well, looks like I'm gonna be the garbage disposal again today.

"Bill you have to stop." Pyronica told me. I trembled. "I--" But I had to keep her safe. I couldn't just--

"Bill, please. I don't like seeing you like this. None of us do." My best friend pulled me in for an embrace. I blinked slowly and glanced over at everyone else. 8-Ball and Keyhole looked quite distressed. Hectorgon wasn't looking at me, but he was biting his lip. Kryptos looked downright angry for reasons I couldn't identify. Xanthar was slumped in on himself, distressed and unhappy. Teeth looked uncomfortable. Ammy just gave me a level stare, and PaciFire had his face buried in his hands. "Like… what?" I asked.

"Bill." Pyronica looked pained as she laid her head down on my hat. "Stop. It's okay. You… don't have to keep doing this."

I didn't understand.

"Pynelope's an adult. She can't rely on you forever. You can't keep-- doing this for her. She can't keep expecting you to protect her from her own actions."

I didn't understand.

"Dammit Bill! How many times have you brought her back to life at this point?!" Pyronica snarled. "She doesn't appreciate it! She's acting like this is all just something that she doesn't have to face the consequences on!"

I didn't understand.

"....but I have to--"

"No Bill! You don't!" Pyronica practically wailed. "I want my daughter to be alive as much as you, but not if you're going to destroy yourself like this because of it!"

I snapped.

"So what?! Are you saying I should let her stay dead?!"

"YES!"

I froze. Everyone did. Even Pyronica, and she was the one who said it.

I finally found my voice. "You can't be serious." She couldn't be. No way. This was her daughter!

Pyronica closed her eye and breathed. She was gripping my sides, tight. Almost painfully so, though I didn't think she realized it. "I love my daughter." She said firmly. Her claws pressed against my bricks before her grip loosened. She slumped in place, her flames dying down to a smolder. "But I love you too."

She opened her eye, looking tired in a way I haven't seen before."I appreciate how much you want to protect her. But this isn't fair to you. I will tell her that you're not going to bring her back anymore. This isn't right, and she shouldn't be using you like this."

"But…" I wilted in place, unable to comprehend. "What if she gets killed?"

"Then she's just facing the consequences of her own recklessness. She needs to learn to take responsibility for herself. You can't always fix her messes for her. Bill, please." She sounded so desperate. I just couldn't understand. If I had the power to protect my baby forever, I should do so, right?" So why was I being told not to?

"Bill, please." Pyronica begged again when she realized I didn't get it. "Just let me talk to her. And you… Stay out of it. Don't help her anymore. Not for this. She's using you! Can't you see that?"

"It's fine to be used. I'm just protecting her." I didn't understand why Pyronica looked so strained when I said that. I hear Hectorgon wince, "I don't think you'll get through to him." To which Kryptos growled. "Dammit Bill! You don't have to help her anymore. You've already done enough!" I stared at all of them incredulously, looking from one to another, but they were all… they all thought this?

"I don't understand." my eye teared up, distress bubbling up inside me. "What did I do wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wrong." Pyronica pressed me close. "But… let me deal with this now."

"She's going to die." my bricks went dull with the realization. "She's not going to come back."

Pyronica closed her eye and shuddered. "I know."

"But… that…" I just couldn't understand. Why? But Pyronica just shook her head. "I'm sorry Bill."

Pyronica had a talk screaming argument with her daughter. I didn't have ears to cover, but Xanthar carried me out of the room. Keyhole and Kryptos sat with me, holding my hands and telling me that everything was alright. I knew they were lying to make me feel better, but I didn't bother to call them out on it.

"-OP BEING SO STUPID! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW BETTER THAN THIS! YOU'RE JUST BEING--"

"Hey, lets go to my room, I got a new music player." Keyhole suggested. "I haven't heard you sing for a while. We can sing together? That'd be fun!" He was trying so hard. "--ELL IF YOU AND BILL AND EVERYONE ELSE ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING INSTEAD OF IGNORING WHAT'S GOING ON--

"Hey, I think today's a good day for Maid RPG!" Kryptos said loudly as we all made our way down to a platform that moved forward and through a few arched stairwells and past the transparent observatory area. The Death Star currently had a nice view of a breathtaking nebula outside, but I couldn't appreciate it. I barely reacted to Kryptos wanting to play Maids with me.

...I DID react when Keyhole fell off the moving platform. I managed to grab him before he fell more than two stories and pulled him back up. "S-stars!" He gasped. "We really need a fence around the platforms!" He looked somewhat pale. Despite myself, I let out a chuckle. "Naw, that'll take the fun out of it!" I did form a net below the platform to catch anyone unfortunate enough to fall off though. I wonder if I should have thought about safety before building this area? Naw, it wasn't like it was stairs.

Keyhole pouted at me, but I could feel his relief that I was cheering up. Well, I wasn't going to tell him I was faking it, to make him stop worrying. Kryptos hadn't let go of my hand. I don't think he was buying it. Neither was Xanthar. Well, I'll just have to act harder!

Don't worry so much about me! I'm allowed to feel upset by this! I don't-- I don't know what to do! I just wanted Pynelope to be alive. But she kept throwing herself into danger. What was I supposed to do? And Pyronica told me to stop helping her-- But I couldn't do that!

We got to Keyhole's room and my friends made good on their suggestion to play Maids with me. Ammy showed up too. And PaciFire. It was sweet, but also, did they think I needed this much help? I wasn't fine but I didn't need them babying me! Still, I tried my best to act normal as I DMed the game. They were trying very hard. Kryptos even willingly wore a maid outfit for this.

I just wished I was in a better mood to appreciate it.

Finally, Pyronica came to find us. "Bill, don't revive Pynelope if she gets herself killed again."

"I won't--"

"No. You leave her be. She's an adult. She knows exactly what she's getting herself into and I've made it clear to her that she can't keep using you like this." Pyronica huffed. I reared up to protest but she shot me down with a, "She agreed. She agreed that she wouldn't count on you to just bring her back to life if she dies from her own recklessness."

There was a rumbling sound. "And how did you get her to agree to that?"

Pyronica glared back, to all outward appearances she wasn't afraid at all. But I could taste her Fear. She wasn't backing down though. The others were putting some distance from me, except for Xanthar, who pulled me closer to press against his fur. "I told her that it wasn't fair to you. Regardless of how she felt about this."

"She's grieving." I ground out.

"It's not an excuse for purposely getting herself killed, with full knowledge that someone is going to bring her back." Pyronica retorted. "If she knows you're not going to do so, she'll be more careful."

"Or she's gonna DIE and STAY DEAD!" My hands were burning, Xanthar trembled and I stamped down my flames before I ended up hurting him. Pyronica scowled, planted herself firmly in place and told me, "Then she dies."

I nearly blew up at her. It was a close thing. I don't fully know what things we ended up screaming at each other. I think Keyhole's room got thrashed. I don't know. I don't think I noticed. But I was upset, she was being stubborn, and everyone else was too afraid to get between us. I remember storming out of there, leaving the dimension itself and sulking off in the farthest dimension I could get to. I just didn't understand why this was happening. Pyronica loved her daughter. I know she did. So why?! Why?!

---

...as I had thought, Pynelope was dead.

And once she was, I tracked down everyone involved with her death and tore them apart limb from limb. After all, she wasn't here to tell me not to do that anymore. She wasn't here to tell me to let them go free. She was dead. And now, so were they.

I flicked the blood off my hands and felt… nothing.

My rage had burned up and I just felt empty inside.

I heard a wet sound and glanced down to see the water trailing down my bricks to land on the ground. The dripping mixed in with the blood pooling around me and I sat down on what was left of someone's torso to bury my face in my hands, uncaring for the blood I was smearing across myself. I sat there for a good long time, weeping and wondering why this had to happen.

---

"How're you holding up?" Pyrone asked as he laid on his couch with me in his arms. I hadn't gone home since Pynelope died. I couldn't face Pyronica. I couldn't be sure I wouldn't hurt her for what happened. So I ended up living with Pyrone. He found me at his door and took me in without question. I know he knew that his sister was dead. I heard him crying at night. But he didn't talk about it, and neither did I.

"I'm…" okay? Not okay? Fuck if I knew. The house was quiet. Most of his kids had grown up and left. Rince ended up joining the Federation as an Enforcer. I couldn't help but think she chose to do so just to spite me. It was fine, I couldn't bring myself to care.

I just felt so empty.

"Hey, do you two want to help make lunch?" Flora, bless her, asked quietly. She'd been an Ax-sent gift in these trying times. With me and Pyrone more or less being absolutely useless, she was keeping everything going. I couldn't keep doing this to her. I closed my eye and huffed before floating into the kitchen. "I would love to help make lunch. Thank you."

Time continued on. My stay stretched from a few days to a few weeks. And then months. Years. The rest of Pyrone's children grew up and moved out. It was just the three of us now.

I still hadn't spoken to Pyronica. Even when she came over to meet with her son and ask about how I was doing. I hid myself every time. I just couldn't face her.

Flora took over hunting for meat when Pyrone got too old to do so. Her strength was great as ever, even old as she was. They were both pretty independant people, didn't want to rely on me even as they began having trouble moving around. When Flora could no longer lift and yeet a dexicorn across the fields, they finally admitted it would be nice to have some help around the farm. Some of the kids came back to discuss who would inherit the farm. Their relatives got involved as well. I didn't like it. I didn't like how they were talking like the two were already dead. I knew that making a proper Will was a thing but I didn't like how they were doing it so soon. (I knew it wasn't soon, they were getting on in years, and this was important-- but still!)

I took over the task of running the house while the kids cared for the farm. It was decided that Hilbert would get the farm, both because he was willing to stay and run it, and because he was good at it. I took care of Flora and Pyrone's needs when they simply couldn't anymore. I'd already done it with Quackers, it wasn't hard. I dreaded each day that passed. I couldn't help but hate Time Baby so much. The forward progression of age towards the end. I hated it so much.

"Hey Bill?" Pyrone asked me one night, "We get reincarnated after we die, right?"

"Yeah." I laid beside him on his pillow. Flora was already asleep, snoring loudly from her side of the bed. Pyrone hummed. "You know, I think I might like that."

"Oh?" I asked. He chuckled. "Yeah, I'd get a whole new family and life and everything… do you think I get to choose?"

"I could put in a word with Ax." He did seem willing to hear me out about more things. The 'headband' for him was coming along. The Pillar auto-pilot was a bit more difficult. I didn't know much about the Soul system. But he and I were working on it, slow though our progress was.

"I'd like to have a father." Pyrone mused. "Not that you're not great Bill, but it might be nice to have a father, like… one who didn't get eaten before I was born." I managed to laugh. "Yeah, that could be arranged. I think?" He seemed happy to hear that, drifting off to sleep peacefully. I could feel his time was coming. Flora's too. I knew I had to tell Pyronica. So she could see him one last time.

That was going to be so awkward...

---

My stupid self left her a text message. I didn't know what to say to her. So I just wrote [Pyrone's time is coming.] and left it at that. Which was awful! But I didn't know what else to say. I hid again when she came over. She knew I was there but she didn't say anything about it. I hated this. I missed home. I missed hanging out with everyone. But this wasn't something I was willing to confront. I still hadn't forgiven her (that was a lie, the one I couldn't forgive was myself.)

Still, his Time was coming. I couldn't stand it.

Pyronica was asleep in the other room, sleeping over for the night. I was awake. I had been without my false-dreamscape for years now. I didn't need to sleep. So there I was, beside Pyrone as I listened to his breathing. To his last breaths. I could tell. It was Time. Slowly, he stirred and opened his eye to blink at me. "You're still awake?" He murmured weakly.

"Yeah." I brushed his hair from his eye. "Can't sleep with all the snoring." He chuckled and laid there quietly for a while. "Hey Bill?"

"What's up?"

"I'm dying, aren't I?" He looked so calm saying that. I shook. "Y-yeah…"

"Hey, don't be like that. I'm gonna reincarnate, aren't I?" He reached out to brush a large hand across my side. "Just find me again. And even if you can't, I swear I'll find you." He smiled. "No matter who I end up becoming, I swear, we'll meet again~" He sang quietly. "Don't know where… don't know when…" Of course, he knew this song, I used to sing it to him and Pynelope when they were kids going off to school, it annoyed the fuck out of them. "Oh I… know… we'll… meet again…" His voice grew quietly as his strength left him.

"...some sunny day~" I finished, blinking back tears as I held his hand. The ice was melting. He felt so unnaturally warm.

"I love you." He told me. I trembled. "I love you too, my little Ice Pack."

And then he was gone.

And I felt something inside me break.

---

I found myself in the Space between Spaces. I didn't remember coming here. Also, the place was on fire. What was going on? Why was this place burning?

-You need to calm down-

Ah, Ax was here. "When did I get here?" I asked. I felt hot all over. Oh. It was because I was on fire. That made perfect sense. Wait, was that bad?

-I pulled you here. It wasn't safe- Ax frowned down at me. -You could have destroyed that farm- He slowly placed a hand on me, ignoring my flames. -You need to calm down- he repeated.

But I was calm. I was per~fectly fiiiiiine~ how silly of him to think I wasn't. Why, of course I was fine. Why wouldn't I be?

I should go show people just how fine I was.

Like Time Baby!

I'm sure he'd love to see just how amazingly FINE I was. How abso-fucking-lutely fine I was with his insistance that time had to go FORWARD and yank every mortal along with it.

-Bill, you need to calm down- Ax was brushing as my sides, patting out the flames.

"I AM CALM!" I shrieked before settling down. "Now please excuse me, I need to go and show Time Baby just how calm I am."

-I can't let you do that. Bill, please- He was waving off and putting out the other fires. I never knew the clouds up here could burn so well. Wait, did he say he couldn't let me do what I wanted?

There was a loud screaming sound that couldn't possibly have come from me. No way. But it was good that I didn't need to breath, just listening to that scream made me worry about whoever that must have been.

Ax held me tight in his arms. He wasn't the one screaming though. I wonder who was?

---

I don't know how long it took for me to come back to myself, but the fire had been put out, and Ax looked exhausted. I felt really bad about it. It led to me having another fit, crying and crying and unable to stop myself. Once I had gotten that out of my system, and calmed down enough to think clearly again (and Ax finally let me go), I left the Space between Spaces. Part of me was a little angry at dad because he stopped me from taking my despair out on Time Baby. But the other part of me was grateful for it. Frankly, I had to leave. I didn't want…

(I could overthrow dad if I tried...maybe… he was weak--)

...didn't want a confrontation…

I could feel my demonic instincts rearing up at his signs of weakness, and I didn't want to risk anything happening.

So I floated out in the void (far from Ax, far from Time Baby, far from anyone and everything ) in my Miz form, hoping that she would keep me stabilized somewhat. It was quiet. And dark. I'm too far from any stars to see them, even with my enhanced eyesight. I came out here, far from any prying eyes to get some 'me' time. I know my friends were probably worried. I knew Ax was worried. But I just needed to be alone. I was upset about… pretty much everything. I wanted to feel better. So I sang. My mouth moved as I sang and danced, silent and unseen in some distant corner of the galaxy.

"Put on a mask and don a false identity.~ I'm broken down into my core~" my mouth moved but there was no sound in space without the air to carry it. The music played in my head, a song only I could hear. I twirled and moved my body to a silent beat. "Blood dripping, head is splitting, Words are falling free. I can't take anymore~"

In the void of space I danced alone. I sang the lyrics that no one understood but me. A loneliness griped me. What's the point of this performance if no one could see it? But as I danced I couldn't help but feel better. Just a little bit. Music was my response to almost everything, I used to break out in song and dance constantly as a human. My sister would sing along to the songs she knew, we would be loud and obnoxious, laughing at how badly we mangled the lyrics. Sometimes she would just start singing out of nowhere and I would follow her lead.

I missed Zyun-Kei so much. I missed having someone who was so in synch with me that we sometimes broke out into the same song completely unscripted. I missed dancing stupidly with her and having mom join in because our whole family is just a bunch of spazzes. I missed laying in bed discussing deep philosophical topics at ungodly hours of the night with my sister before mom texted us to 'go to sleep'.

I missed my sisters. I missed my family. I missed my friends. I missed Will. I missed Quackers. I missed Pynelope and Pyrone. I missed my big brother.

I could feel my voice crack in my throat even if there was no sound to hear it. I choked and sobbed, my eyes burned as my tears boiled the second they formed. It upset me that they boil when it's so cold out here. I wanted to go home. But it doesn't exist here. Neither the flat world of shapes nor the 'real' world where I originated. I can't go back to either of them. I lost the Flatlands to a fire. I lost my first life to a fire as well. A stupid car accident explosion that shouldn't have happened.

I cried. I always seem to be crying. Just tears constantly at the drop of a hat. Crying is good. It's better to cry then to hold all your feelings in. I knew this. I understood this. So it's fine. I'll cry and then I'll feel better. It's fine. I'll feel better. I will. I will. It's fine.

At some point I wore myself out. I was dead tired from all this crying.

I did feel better. But I'm not any less sad.

Trying to not be sad simply turned my feelings into rage. Rage at Time Baby for making time go by so fast. Rage at Time itself for taking yet more loved ones away from me. I wanted to kill him. Kill Time Baby and tear apart all of the time stream. It wouldn't bring them back but it would certainly make me feel better.

I knew I couldn't let myself do that. I had to leave. Go far, far, away to somewhere I couldn't hurt Time Baby and ruin everything I've worked at for all these billions of years.

I found myself in front of my Exit door and out into the Void of Doors. Fuck it. I'm risking it. It's fine. I'm just going to visit Seb. I would go to Blue but…as much as I loved my brother, he doesn't 'get it'. He'd probably tell me to roll back time to get them back. Go against Time Baby because I was powerful enough to do so and I shouldn't be going along with Time Baby or Ax for things that were unfair. He'd probably tell me to overthrow Ax again. Or something. But I couldn't do that. I shook my head. Seb grew up human, he might… must understand. And it's not like I needed Seb to help me through this. I just… needed a place to hang out at and 'distract' myself until I stopped having this urge to destroy my dad and that bitch baby.

It would just be for a while… just until I got over this…

I turned over to where Seb's Door was and went in.

---