Daemons
Chapter 9

Suicidal Warning

Killer looked up at the night sky, only to sigh as the city lights blocked out any of the stars. It was something he desperately missed from when he and his brothers lived in smaller places, where the lights weren’t bright enough to keep them away. A starry night sky was one of his favorite ways to relax, but it seemed he wouldn’t be able to get it here unless he went hunting for it. He really could use the relaxation right now too, especially with Dust constantly rubbing his soulmate in Killer’s face.

The frog daemon had stormed out of the house earlier before he actually punched his best friend in his smug face. Why was it that Killer would constantly play by the rules and do everything he was told to do, but the stupid monkey that broke all the rules got to be happy? It wasn’t fair, and was downright infuriating. At least Fell and Error weren’t being complete asses about finding their soulmates, even if Error was rarely around anymore. The spider daemon spent pretty much every day with his boyfriend doing who knows what. Ever since that date he went on last week, he’d been home less and less.

Thankfully Reaper had told him of a couple areas in the city where the lights were less, meaning he could find someplace where he could relax and get away from his crazy family. The one that had seemed the most appealing was the river valley. Since a fairly large river cut through the heart of the city, there was a wide stretch of land on either side of it that was pretty much all greenery. On top of that if he wanted to he could probably make his way down to the water for a late night swim in his daemon form, something he wouldn’t be able to do anywhere else.

So that was where Killer was currently heading. He was a bit surprised at how few people were out in a city this big, but he definitely wasn’t complaining. Less people was a good thing, it meant a lower chance of someone noticing something or getting curious and following him. It’s specifically why he’d chosen to go through this area, as there were far less pedestrians due to how shady the area was, but not actually a high amount of criminals. The area was just neglected, housing mostly homeless people and junkies, none of which would be believed if they screamed about a frog skeleton in the river. Killer couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the idea of their sightings being so quickly written off as drug-induced hallucinations as he walked past quite possibly the sketchiest looking bridge ever.

A cold wind ripped past him, causing Killer to pull his dark jacket tighter. He’d had to trade in his old blue hoodie when they got here, as Nightmare was tired of him, Dust, and Horror all looking the same at a distance. So he’d swapped it out for a biker jacket, finding it very effective for keeping out the cold fall winds. It helped cover his white t-shirt and went well with the dark jeans he’d gotten, all of which had enough room and flexibility to accommodate his daemon form if necessary.

As the wind died down, Killer went to keep walking, but... something was off. It was like there was something calling to him down the bridge, beckoning him onto the rickety structure. He had half a mind to ignore the feeling, as he didn’t really want to be anywhere near this bridge. Even if he was far more durable as a daemon compared to a normal monster, there’d be no way in hell that he’d walk away from a fall of that height into the river.

And yet he still stepped on to that bridge. He remembered how Reaper had explained what it felt like to be close to your soulmate; how there seemed to be an invisible force leading you in some direction, even if it was the exact opposite of where you wanted to go. So Killer didn’t fight the strange feeling, instead embracing it with a smile. This was it, he’d finally meet his soulmate, the one being in the whole world made perfectly for him. Now he could be as happy as the others and could finally get Dust to stop rubbing Killer’s lack of a soulmate in his face.

By the time Killer made it about halfway across the bridge he finally saw someone else. They were a skeleton, dressed in golden tones with a golden crown on their head. Though to Killer they were the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid his eyes on. The way their clothes gently fluttered in the breeze, the regal look they could totally pull off, it was all so perfect. Then there was how their golden eyes reflected the light of the stars despite seeming so dull and void of hope... and how they moved so gracefully as they... climbed over the safety railing. They... something was seriously wrong.

Before Killer’s mind could catch up to what was happening, he was already running, trying to close the distance between them as quickly as possible. He tried to call out to them, but they didn’t even seem to hear him. The golden skeleton was too lost in their own thoughts, completely disconnected from reality as their grip on the metal bar in front of them slipped and they fell backwards. Wait... they didn’t slip, they let go. Killer felt everything come crashing down on him as he watched his soulmate commit suicide.

No, no, no, no, no! Just when he finally found the one meant for him, the world tried to take them away. The loss of a soulmate, no matter how new the connection was, always resulted in irreparable damage to their daemon partner, in mind, body, and soul. It was why daemons were so protective of their partners, often willing to sacrifice their own safety on instinct to protect them. So that’s exactly what Killer did.

The frog daemon changed forms and leapt over the safety railing without hesitation. He pushed off the metal bar, making use of his powerful legs to launch off and close the gap as quickly as he could. His soulmate was his only priority at this point, nothing else mattered, not even his own life. The wind rushed past as he quickly closed the distance between the two of them, not even bothering with discretion as he openly used his abilities. Two large balls of slime began to form in his hands, one taking a fraction of the time as he threw it at the water beneath them without hesitation. This wasn’t the first time he’d gone diving off of tall heights, so he knew that the surface tension of the water below was dangerous, possibly lethal. If either of them hit it as it was, they’d probably break something if they didn’t die on impact. At the very least they’d be knocked unconscious and subsequently drown.

So Killer’s current plan involved two different kind of slime. In his right hand he was producing slime with no effects, as it was the quickest and took the least energy and focus to create. Each time he created one big enough he lobbed it into the water, allowing him to churn the surface to break up the tension. In his left hand was something completely different, one taking plenty of time and energy to create. The second it was ready though he fired, aiming directly at the skeleton beneath him. The black ball of goo impacted directly in center of the skeleton’s chest, spreading out to cover most of the surface before crystallizing. It wasn’t much, but it would at least protect some of the golden skeleton from the impact. Killer wished he could’ve protected the back of his head and spine, but he was out of time and not anywhere near the right angle to pull that off, so it would have to do.

The force of the black slime impacting them caused the golden skeleton to open their eyes. Two golden eyelights locked onto Killer, something sparking in the depths of the smaller’s otherwise lifeless eyes. But Killer didn’t have a chance to figure out what it was before his soulmate crashed into the waters below. Cursing, the daemon took a deep breath, angling his hands to pierce the water like a diver, before he too was swallowed up by the river.

It took him a couple seconds, but Killer’s amphibian form quickly adapted to the new environment. He opened his eyes, being able to see quite clearly despite the relative murk and the darkness above. Swimming like this with his clothes on was always something that felt strange to him, almost restricting as his porous skin cried out to feel the cool and refreshing water. Killer allowed himself to be carried by the current, looking for the brightly colored skeleton and hoping his actions had lessened the impact at least a bit.

The second he spotted a flash of gold he bolted into action, swimming along the current to get there as fast as he could. He would’ve been able to swim faster if he’d been able to ditch his shoes, but that thought was pushed to the back of his mind as Killer’s hand wrapped around a bony, limp arm. He pulled his soulmate against his chest, inwardly cursing as he noticed they’d been knocked out once they hit the water. He quickly removed the crystallized slime from the other’s torso, swimming up to the surface so the smaller skeleton could properly breathe.

Two skulls breached the surface of the water, with Killer not really feeling short of breath in the slightest. His powerful amphibian legs managed to fight against the current and keep them relatively stationary, but that didn’t matter as Killer realized the other wasn’t breathing. Panic consumed him as he drove towards the shore, wanting to get them out of the water as quickly as he could. “Shit, shit, shit, shit. Don’t you dare die on me, you hear?! I’m not gonna lose you after finally finding you! So don’t die!” The frog daemon continued to scream at the unconscious and unbreathing body in his arms, tears stinging his eyes as he swam as fast as he could.

It took way too long in Killer’s mind for them to reach the shore. As he dragged the golden skeleton’s limp body onto solid ground and away from the water, his soul sank as he noticed they still weren’t breathing. Killer tried everything he could think of, but his panic was clouding his mind and he was far from an expert on this kind of stuff to begin with. He knew he couldn’t save his soulmate, and if he didn’t call for help then they would die right in front of him. So the daemon decided to call the one person he knew that seemed to know everything.

Killer pulled his phone out of his pocket, which was completely fine thanks to the waterproof and nearly indestructible case it had. He’d had too many times in the past where he’d forgotten to take his phone out of his pocket before going swimming, leading to Nightmare chewing him out and eventually giving him the phone and case he had now, with a promise that if he somehow managed to ruin this one he would pay for it, one way or another. He quickly unlocked the phone, scrolling through the few contacts he had before dialing Reaper’s number.

The raven daemon picked up just before the call would’ve gone to voicemail, not really helping with Killer’s overwhelming panic and anxiety as he needed help fast. A sigh greeted him from the other side. “What do you want Killer? I’m in the middle of something.” Reaper was clearly annoyed at being disturbed. If the frog daemon remembered correctly, his brother had gone out tonight to search for his soulmate under the cover of darkness. Given how he’d come so close multiple times over the past couple weeks, it was understandable that he didn’t want to be bothered while tracking them.

That didn’t change how desperately Killer needed his help right now. “Please, Reaper I know you’re busy, but I really need help-”

“Then phone one of the others. I’m currently tracking another stupid bus and I refuse to lose my soulmate because you did something stu-”

“Dammit Reaper my soulmate is dying!” He blurted out, the raw emotion in his voice making it clear that this wasn’t some joke.

That made the older daemon pause. “What did you say?” The only sound made in response to the question was a sob as Killer grabbed hold of his soulmate’s cold hand. “I’m on my way, where are you?” Reaper’s voice was instantly extremely serious, the sound of rushing wind in the background of the call as he abandoned his earlier task.

Killer looked around with teary eyes, making sure to get his bearings correct so that he gave the right directions. “I-I’m on the riverbank, s-south s-side. Downstream o-of a really s-sketchy looking bridge in t-the druggie area. P-Please, hurry. I-I don’t know what to do!”

“Calm down, I’ll be there as fast as I can. Tell me what happened, were you attacked by hunters?” There was a dark edge to Reaper’s voice, something that happened any time hunters came up with him.

The frog daemon shook his head on reflex before remembering Reaper couldn’t see him. He took a couple breaths to try and calm himself as per the other’s instructions, but it only reminded him of how the skeleton beside him wasn’t breathing. “N-No... I-I found them... t-they were j-jumping... o-off the bridge. T-They were trying t-to kill themselves Reaper, n-now they’re n-not breathing!”

“Shit,” Reaper cursed. “Don’t panic, I’m almost there. Give me another thirty seconds. In fact, can you wave your free arm in the air right now?” Killer was a bit confused but did as was asked. “Thank god, that’s you.” With that the line went dead.

Only a few more seconds passed before Reaper practically dove towards the ground, slowing down at the last possible second before landing on the edge of the river next to them. His talons scraped along the rocks underneath them as he raced towards the two others. Though something seemed to catch him off guard, stalling him for a minute before he kneeled down and began inspecting the smaller skeleton. “Well, this is bad,” he said relatively calmly, still looking over the golden skeleton.

“Bad?! He’s dying Reaper! Of course it’s bad!” While one daemon seemed calm despite the situation, the younger of the two was borderline hysterical.

His brother sighed before placing his hands over the unconscious skeleton’s chest. He murmured something under his breath, too low for Killer to pick it up, before a faint, warm light emitted from his hands, concentrating at the center of the other’s chest where his soul would be. Even though the entire city had magic suppression systems activated, it seemed that Reaper’s magical power was too great to be completely contained, either that or he’d found some way around the system. Neither of those options would surprise Killer in the slightest. Reaper had a knack for doing things with magic none of the others could even begin to comprehend.

“This is more complicated than you realize Killer. Do you know who this is?” Reaper looked up only to get a blank look and a quick shake from the other. Sighing, Reaper elaborated. “I believe his name is Dream, and he’s Nightmare’s twin brother. He’s the one responsible for the house we’re staying at, so if we lose him we lose any sort of protection we might’ve had in this city.”

Killer looked down at Dream, extremely surprised and confused. This was Nightmare’s brother? But the two didn’t look at all like each other. Maybe they acted more similar, but the more bizarre thing Reaper had said was the whole thing about them losing their protection if they lost him. The older daemon seemed to understand what he was thinking easily, elaborating while maintaining the flow of magic. “Did you really thing that it was a fluke that we’ve spent a couple weeks in this city without a single hunter finding any of us? It wasn’t luck, but this skeleton’s actions that have kept us safe. That estate he let us stay at has a protection spell surrounding it, one that he created himself so that it could even cloak us while we’re in the city. His magic would hide our unique soul signatures and prevent hunters from detecting us quickly like they usually do, so unless we carelessly use our daemon forms then we should be fine. But the charm is linked to his magic, meaning that if he dies or is injured too badly, then it fails. So yeah, this is bad.”

Now Killer looked at his soulmate in awe. He didn’t know normal monsters were capable of such complex and advanced magic. “How can he do that? I’ve never seen anyone but you do something like that.”

Reaper smirked at the comment, clearly enjoying the compliment to his skills. “While I can’t give you an exact answer, there’s a commonly held theory about the blood siblings of daemons. If a blood sibling is born a normal monster, then most believe them to be superior in terms of magical skills compared to the average monster. The idea is that they fall somewhere between monsters and daemons in terms of magic capability, ranking pretty close to boss monsters in terms of strength with some. That would definitely explain Dream’s natural competency with advanced magic spells.”

The frog daemon blinked. “So cuz his brother’s a daemon, he’s like a boss monster?”

“If you want to simplify it, yes. However there are still intrinsic differences between the souls of boss monsters and... you’re not listening, are you?”

“To be honest? Tell me later, save him now.” Reaper had a nasty habit of spewing too much information on a topic when it really wasn’t appropriate. Sure, Killer was interested in what his brother knew, but with his soulmate still not breathing it definitely wasn’t the time. Then again it was his fault for asking Reaper a question in the first place, he thought by now he should know better.

Reaper rolled his eyes but didn’t stop the flow of magic that Killer had no idea what it was for. “For your information, I’ve been keeping both him and the protection spell alive for a while now. I’ve been supplementing his magic with mine to keep both of them functioning, but this is only a temporary measure. You need to get him breathing again or all my efforts will be pointless.”

“If I knew how to do that I wouldn’t have needed to call you in the first place! You’re the expert here, tell me what to do!” Killing hunters, that was something he could do, but with a name like Killer he kind of assumed he’d never be the kind of person to save another’s life.

“For starters, try calming down. Having you freaking out isn’t going to make this any easier. And if you haven’t noticed, I’m a little busy at the moment. Come on Killer, you’re smarter than you give yourself credit for, think!”

Killer did his best to calm down, but the overwhelming fear of having his soulmate in such a state made it really hard to keep from freaking out. Now he needed to think of something, let’s see... If he’d drowned and wasn’t breathing, that meant he’d inhaled water right? So the water was still in him, preventing him from breathing. All he had to do was get the water out and he might start breathing again. Could he use his slime? No, that would just cause an entirely different problem and he still wouldn’t be able to breathe. No, he needed to do something else.

What if he forced him to breathe? If he forced air into him, maybe it would be enough to force the water out. Well, about the only way he thought of that he could force him to breathe would be to... A dark blush crept along his cheekbones, hidden for the most part by the surrounding darkness.

Unfortunately, Reaper had excellent vision, even in the dark. “Oh stop being such a child and do it! I’m getting tired, so either you start doing mouth to mouth or I’m gonna punch you in the mouth!”

“Okay, okay!” Killer positioned himself right next to Dream’s skull, shooting the raven daemon another hesitant look. The low growl emanating from the shadow on the other side of the golden skeleton was enough to push him into action. As he swallowed his nervousness and panic, Killer bent down, gently placing his lips on top of his soulmate’s before exhaling slowly into him. He saw Dream’s chest rise as he forced his own air into him, but felt his hope ebbing away as his chest fell back and refused to move on its own again.

Reaper let out a displeased groan. “Keep going Killer! You can’t expect it to work the first time! Keep breathing for him until he does it on his own dammit!” Driven by the agitated nature of Reaper’s voice, the frog daemon quickly resumed the action, not wanting to risk being on the receiving end of the taller’s wrath. Nightmare was scary, but he was like that all the time to the point where Killer was more used to him being angry. But Reaper was usually one of the calmest and most relaxed in their group, making his rage all the more terrifying on the few times it did show.

Breath after breath, Killer kept trying and trying to get Dream to breathe on his own, feeling dismay and grief tug at his soul with every time he watched his soulmate’s chest refuse to move on its own. If it weren’t for Reaper constantly ordering him to keep going, he probably would’ve said it was hopeless and given up long ago. But he was so thankful he didn’t when he felt the smallest of twitches come from the near lifeless form. Before he knew it, the daemon’s mouth was full of water as Dream began violently coughing up the water he’d inhaled, spasms overtaking his body as the skeleton tried desperately to breathe on his own.

“Turn him onto his side, otherwise he’ll just keep choking!” Reaper ordered, never breaking his flow of magic to Dream’s soul. Killer acted without hesitance, the dark dread that had been seeping into his soul now being replaced with an overwhelming relief. He didn’t even care that he was crying right now, the magical tears cascading down with already streaked face and plopping onto the rocky ground beneath as he let out a shaky breath of his own.

His soulmate was alive. Even though he hadn’t regained consciousness yet, Dream was gasping for air as he continued to cough up more and more water. Eventually Dream’s convulsive movements stilled, his breathing labored but finally steady. Not wanting to jinx it, the frog daemon didn’t dare touch him for fear of causing some other problem.

Reaper let out a long and dramatic sigh before collapsing backwards onto the stony shore, finally breaking the direct stream of magic. “Thank god, that was getting hard to keep up. Definitely not how I was expecting my night to go.” The raven daemon tilted his head up enough to look directly at Killer. “I hope you realize the extent of the situation you’re unfortunately in. Your soulmate is suicidal, so unless you want to lose him, and have all of us found by hunters shortly after, you better figure out what’s pushed him to this point and fast.”

The younger daemon nodded, knowing that moving forward he was going to have to work hard to make sure that Dream was happy and would never consider those thoughts ever again. A peaceful silence overtook the two, broken up by the distant city noises, the water rushing by, and his soulmate’s occasionally labored breathing. It was nice, allowing Killer some time to come down from the adrenaline high tonight’s events had left him with. Though one detail stood out to him as odd, one he figured now would be a perfect time to clear up. “So... how did you do that? The thing where you transferred your magic to him?” With the magic suppression system up, the magic that monsters typically used was blocked. Then again, that wasn’t typical monster magic, not even really green colored magic. It was something else.

Reaper continued to lay on his back for a minute before pushing himself up to a sitting position, clearly recovering a bit from the fatigue his earlier actions had left him with. “It’s an invocation that I learned a long time ago. Figured it might come in handy for... well, situations like this. Lo and behold, I, the magnificent Reaper, was right.” He started making grand gestures with his one hand, using the other to continue supporting his weight.

“I-Invo... what?”

“Invocation,” Reaper sighed, his dramatic tendencies dying down and instead being replaced by his tendency to share his insane amounts of knowledge. The frog daemon thought he had to be the one guy in the world that knew everything. “It’s an advanced form of magic that used to be solely the domain of humans. It’s... well, it’s pretty much a lost art at this point, since there’s no humans that practice magic anymore, and it’s a hell of a lot harder for monsters to learn than typical bullet magic so most don’t. In fact, I’m pretty sure that most monsters are just incapable of learning it. It requires a hell of a lot of magic to be able to pull it off, hence why yours truly can manage.” In typical Reaper fashion, even when explaining something complex or convoluted, the raven daemon can still manage to pump up his own ego at the same time.

“Didn’t seem that complicated,” Killer muttered, looking at his own hands and wondering if he’d be able to learn invocations at some point. Though the way his brother talked made it sound nearly impossible, and this was coming from by far their strongest magic user.

A chuckle broke him out of his thoughts, dragging them back to the cloaked skeleton across from him. “You notice how I often do things with magic that don’t really make sense, things that I shouldn’t be able to do? That’s me doing an invocation. The spells are a lot more powerful and diverse than what any monster is naturally capable of, well beyond bullet magic and even colored magic in terms of capabilities. Some of the more powerful invocations can even put a Gaster blaster to shame. But it’s also far more difficult to pull off.

“Any time I’ve ever used an invocation, you’ll probably notice that I start muttering under my breath. To use an invocation, you must invoke that power, call it forth using a powerful spell. Takes a hell of a lot more magic as you weave it into your very words, and a lot of focus to not screw up a very delicate process. One word out of place and the whole thing can fail, or even worse it could backfire and cause all sorts of nasty side effects. Typically, invocations are supposed to spoken out loud and with conviction, clear enunciation on every word to avoid any possibility of the words carelessly blending together. I’ve just become so good at it over the years that I have no issue with speeding things up a little, and my natural magic reserves are a lot higher due to my nature as a daemon. Hence why I can pull it off.”

Taking a small break from his monologue, Reaper turned his attention to Dream whose breathing was slowly getting less labored. “Now, finding a normal monster capable of invocations, like your little soulmate here, that’s always something quite fascinating to me.”

“W-Wait, what?” Killer looked between his brother and his soulmate, utterly confused by his last comment. Dream could do that weird, complicated magic too?

If Reaper had eyelights, he’d be rolling them right now. “Keep up Killer. The protection spell Dream created, the one protecting us from the hunters, it’s an invocation. In fact, it’s a very high level and extremely complicated one that I’m pretty sure he spent a lot of time and effort creating. Not wanting his hard work to go to waste is probably one of the less obvious reasons why I made sure to maintain it for him. Thankfully it’s stable, he’s stable, everyone’s stable and happy.” With that, Reaper collapsed back onto the ground, signaling that he was done his explanation.

“Wow, that’s definitely a lot to take in,” the younger muttered, looking at his soulmate in awe. “So, there’s not really any restrictions on the kinds of things you can do with an invocation?”

“Nope.”

“Could you make fire rain from the sky if you wanted to?”

“Theoretically.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean I’d have to do some research and figure out the exact words required to make that happen. Why, did you want me to bring hell raining down on earth?”

“Nope.”

Reaper chuckled, looking up to the starry sky above with his arms behind his head. “Other than little Dream over there, I don’t actually know anyone else capable of using this kind of magic. Theoretically I guess Nightmare could, he definitely has the potential. But, I really don’t think he ever will. We both know that our fearless leader’s first instinct when tackling a problem is to go through it... and then rip it apart with four slimy black tentacles.”

Knowing exactly how right the older one was, Killer just let out a low chuckle, not wanting to disturb the golden skeleton who was now resting peacefully beside him. He was about to lie down to and finally get to enjoy the stars he’d originally came to see, until a harsh buzzing made him jump. It wasn’t his own phone, and Reaper wasn’t making any sudden moves to pull his out of his cloak. The other daemon did however starting waving his hand around in the air in a relaxed manner. “Speaking of your soulmate, you should probably answer that. If I had to guess, given that they’re phoning a suicidal person, it’s probably someone trying to tell him not to jump. Might be a little late, but it probably couldn’t hurt to let them know he’s not dead.”

Sighing, Killer reached over and took the phone out of Dream’s pocket, noticing that they both thankfully had the same waterproof case. Guess that explained how it was still working. He went to accept the call, seeing the name ‘Cross’ on the display. He only hesitated when he noticed a message left on the device’s lock screen, stating that there was a message on the phone to be delivered to one of six people, one of them being the same person who was calling. “Answer the damn phone Killer,” Reaper growled, his agitated voice cutting through Killer’s thoughts.

“Okay, okay... geez,” he muttered in response before pressing the button. “H-Hello?”

The line was quiet for a minute before a voice came through, sounding not at all pleased that Killer had answered. ”Who is this?"

Finding the aggressive and hostile tone just a bit intimidating, the daemon couldn’t help but stutter a bit on the line. “U-Um... Y-You’re Cross, right? T-That’s what the contact said. Uh, your friend, Dream-”

"You know where Dream is?" The reply was instantly far more hopeful, though there was still an underlying note of suspicion. ”Where is he?"

“U-Um, he’s here, with me, on the side of the river.” God, he felt so awkward as he kept stumbling over his words, completely thrown off by whoever this ‘Cross’ person was.

A small sound could be heard, like a gasp or something along those lines. ”T-The river?" Their voice was instantly more passive, sounding almost fearful as he asked, ”D-Did he...? I-Is he...?"

Hearing how the other couldn’t bear to finish his questions, Killer quickly stepped in to prevent them from assuming the worst. “He’s alive! H-He’s alive... not conscious, but he’s breathing... now.” He coughed a bit, hoping he wasn’t making the person worry even more as he probably told him too much of the truth.

Cross let out a shuddering sigh, clearly relieved to hear he was alright. ”Where exactly are you?" He gave essentially the same instructions he gave Reaper, describing the location in a bit more detail to avoid any possible confusion. ”Alright, stay right where you are, and don’t you dare move Dream. I’m coming to get him... And, thank you." Before Killer could even respond to the barely concealed threat or the heartfelt thank you, Killer heard the phone beep, signaling that Cross had hung up.

“Okay, looks like one of Dream’s friends is coming to get him,” Killer informed, putting the golden skeleton’s phone back where he found it before turning to face Reaper. Honestly he was a little surprised the other had stayed silent throughout the call, though he guessed the raven daemon always knew when it was appropriate for that kind of screwing around. Right now definitely wasn’t that time.

Smiling, Reaper finally got back to his feet. “Well, that definitely good, though that means I should probably get out of...” The older daemon seemed to notice something, stopping in the middle of his sentence and whirling around to face the surrounding greenery. The look on his face, it honestly screamed murder to the other daemon.

Seeing this reaction, Killer was instantly on his feet too, moving to stand between this unknown threat and his unconscious soulmate. “Reaper, what’s wrong?” All the daemons trusted Reaper’s reactions, as he had the best eyesight and a natural intuition about certain things that had saved all of them before.

“...Nothing,” Reaper finally answered after a lengthy period of silence, cocking his head to the side enough to smirk at Killer. “Just something I have to go... check out.” His brother finally dropped his daemon form, his wings retracting before disappearing in the dark folds of his cloak as he began moving away from the water and into the nearby forest. It was only then he realized he should probably do the same with his own form, feeling his porous flesh receding and leaving him with bare bones once again. “You stay here with him. I wouldn’t... leave his side too much in the next few days if I were you.” He jerked his head back in Dream’s direction, now standing at the edge of the tree line. “Keep in touch, inform me of any changes and I’ll pass it on to the others. Good luck Killer.”

Realizing the raven daemon was about to vanish like he often did, Killer held out a hand and called out to stop him. “Wait, Reaper!” Said skeleton turned to face him, waiting patiently to see what Killer wanted. “Thank you so much for saving him.” He’d only realized just now that he hadn’t thanked the cloaked skeleton yet for coming to his aid, a very large smile on his face as his gratitude and relief led to tears burning at the backs of his empty sockets.

But Reaper chuckled, waving his hand dismissively through the air. “I’m not the idiot that jumped off of a bridge after him.” With that he continued to walk into the forest, completely disappearing in only a few seconds.

“Dream!” A familiar voice grabbed Killer’s attention, alerting him to a skeleton dressed primarily in white and black that was now running full speed ahead in their direction. He jumped back as the stranger ground to a halt right beside him, quickly dropping onto his knees beside the golden skeleton. A look of pure and utter relief came over the monochrome skeleton, a small chuckle mixing in with his words. “Oh, thank god you’re alive!” Tears pricked the corner of his eyes as the stranger carefully rolled Dream onto his back, inspecting him before letting out a shaky breath. “I am so gonna kick your ass when you wake up.” A few tears landed on the monochrome skeleton’s hands, making him quickly wipe away the rest. He only seemed to just notice the daemon nearby, turning to face him and jumping a bit at Killer’s unusual appearance. “O-Oh, and you are?”

“K-Killer,” The daemon almost stuck his hand out in greeting but thought better of it at the last minute, feeling like it would be poorly received at a time like this. He also couldn’t help but notice the other’s skeptical and suspicious look as he gave his name. “I-I know it’s not the best name, but...” He trailed off, feeling awkward and embarrassed as his hand sheepishly rubbed the back of his skull.

The stranger sighed, seeming a little more relaxed than initially. “Cross,” he responded in return, his voice far more steady than it was a minute ago. Cross then turned his attention to the nearby bridge, his gaze eventually falling back down to the water’s surface as he took note of Dream’s soaked clothes. “Did he... D-Did he actually...?” Once again the monochrome skeleton was unable to finish his question, turning to face Killer with a look of horror. Unable to say the answer outright, the frog daemon just turned his head to the side, his eyebrows drawing together as he stared at the rocks beneath his feet. Cross clearly got the message though, tears brimming his eyes again as he turned to face the unconscious skeleton beside him. “O-Oh god...”

Before the other could fall into a state of hysteria, Killer quickly went to reassure Cross of Dream’s condition. “H-He’s okay... really, he’s gonna be just fine.”

That reassurance seemed to be what Cross needed, as he calmed down considerably, albeit still shaken by the realization that his friend had tried to take his own life. “Thank you so much for saving him, you have no idea how much it means to me.” The teary smile sent his way was enough to convince Killer of the sincerity of the other’s words.

“I-It was nothing, really.” Being the center of attention was never really his thing, so he felt a little awkward about receiving the other’s gratitude. Wanting to shift the focus back onto the more important person here, Killer looked down at Dream’s unconscious form. “What are you going to do now?”

Cross sighed, moving to cradle Dream in his arms and get him off the ground. “I’m gonna take this idiot back to my house to keep an eye on him. I literally have someone sick with worry over him, so the sooner I get him back there the better.” He was quite clearly frustrated in his friend’s actions, but it’s not like the daemon could blame him. If any of his brothers thought of taking their own life, then he was pretty sure all six of the rest would beat the shit out of them for threatening to hurt them like that. He couldn’t and didn’t want to picture Cross hitting Dream, but he could definitely understand where the monochromatic skeleton was coming from.

But there was a slight problem with the other skeleton’s plan. Reaper had told him to stay with Dream, especially for the next couple days. So he spoke without even speaking as Cross stood up with the golden skeleton in his arms. “Do you think I could come along? I-I just wanna make sure he’s okay, that he wakes up and everything is good.”

While Cross clearly wasn’t expecting that question, Killer supposed the look on his face was enough to convince him. To be fair he was pretty desperate, definitely not wanting to be separated from his soulmate at all right now. The monochrome skeleton let out a sigh, looking at him with a very tired expression. “If you’re really that set on coming, then I guess I can’t stop you after everything you’ve done for him... I don’t even know how you did it.” Cross looked back over the dark waters with a frown, with Killer easily able to figure out what he was thinking. If it weren’t for the fact that his daemon form was naturally aquatic, then there would’ve been no way for him to keep himself steady in that river, let alone another skeleton and manage to swim to shore not far from the drop point.

“Just... happened to be in the right place at the right time I guess,” he chuckled nervously. While that answer was technically true, it was clearly not the kind of answer the monochrome skeleton wanted.

Cross turned away, once again looking to the river and the bridge they’d jumped from. “Right,” he muttered under his breath, barely audible and clearly suspicious, but there wasn’t anything Killer could do to fix that. As he turned his attention back to the skeleton sleeping in his arms, the monochrome skeleton looked like he was about to burst into tears again. “Why did you do this Dream? God, I’m so sorry,” He whispered, sounding heartbroken and forlorn as he grit his teeth and screwed his eyes shut, forcing his tears away.

Seeing the other in such a state, Killer came over and tried to comfort him by placing a hand on his shoulder. “Everything will be okay.” So long as Dream was fine, those words would forever ring true to the daemon, allowing him to deliver them with plenty of conviction.

It seemed to work, as Cross’ mood visibly picked up. “Yeah... Come on, if you’re tagging along then we better get going. I got someone else that I have to keep watch over, and he’s not doing too well right now either.” Without another word Cross started walking, a grim expression on his face as he mentioned this other person.

The monochrome skeleton didn’t seem bothered at all as he carried Dream, not needing Killer’s support at all as he started climbing out of the river valley. That left his hands free to text Reaper and send him an update. I’m spending the night with the guy who came to get Dream so I can stay with him, can you let Nightmare know that I’ll be gone until at least tomorrow, probably later?

He put his phone back in his pocket, quickly following Cross up the hill and out of the river valley. It took him a while, but Reaper eventually got back to him. Of course, take care of him and take as long as you need. We all understand.

Thinking about it, Killer wondered if he should maybe leave a message on their group chat, but figured it would just cause the others to freak out. At least if Reaper told them he’d find a way to keep everyone calm and not suddenly scouring the city to find him. Thanks a bunch Reaper, you have no idea how much I owe you.

He could practically hear the other’s relaxed chuckle in Reaper’s response as he thanked him once again. No problem.

Seeing he’d lagged behind to answer the messages, Cross called back to him, “Come on, let’s go!” He was clearly in a hurry to get Dream back to his place and check on whoever else he was looking out for.

“R-Right, coming!” Killer put his phone back in his pocket before running after the other skeleton. It wasn’t exactly how he thought he’d find his soulmate, but at least he was alive. And Killer wouldn’t let anything threaten to take him away like that again.

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