Raven's Island: Crackstone's Crypt

Well, this seems familiar, doesn't it? You would think that after almost getting hazed by your crush's dormmate's best friends that you would learn to predict things coming to knock out your lights. Yes, she's aware she mentioned that she wasn't afraid of the dark, but now isn't exactly a good time to try and get used to it, especially when she has to wake up to see the actual Tyler Galpin's face.

Wasn't exactly part of her retirement plan.

"Kind of a deja-vu thing we got going on, huh?" Tyler jests her situation mockingly, apparently thinking the same thing, or maybe he's thinking about the chains in the cave. 

"Except I won't cry and whine like a child." Wednesday coldly spits back almost instantly, wiping the smirk off of the Hyde's face. She feels something hot pouring down her face, likely bleeding from her forehead after getting hit hard with that shovel.

"You know, you talk big, but you're forgetting about one little detail that could be saving you right now." Tyler points out as he leans directly into Wednesday's face, glaring deeply into her eyes with a fury that could send a chill down even her cold spine. "My dad's taken your Stefan Salvatore all the way out of town, no one's coming to slam someone onto a table for you."

"I think you overestimate your chances, and your strength." Wednesday retorts with a seemingly calm exterior, or maybe she's just doing a really good job at hiding her fear/excitement at the anticipation of whatever's going to happen next. "Y/N's ten times the man you are. You'll just end up embarrassing yourself like those boys." She reminds him of what happened at the Harvest Festival, to which Tyler scoffs. 

"Sad we'll never get to see."

"Tyler!" Thornhill loudly calls out his name, putting an end to their petty feud. The two teens turn to her messing with the coffin in the middle of the crypt, the one that belongs to Joseph Crackstone himself, laying on a crypt. The lighting of the blood full moon shines on her in a way that ironically feels like someone's casting a mirror on her. "Go wait by the boat."

"Yes, listen to your master and be a good little Hyde." Wednesday mockingly encourages, causing Tyler to snap towards her with a heated glare. However, he can't disobey, so he shoulders past her out the door.

But not before backhanding her right cheek, which echoes across the entire room. "The bell's been run, your time's running out, I promise." Tyler tells her with a small growl, before raising a finger with a tiny smirk. "Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding....." He pretends to ring a bell like he's Hector Salamanca as he exits the tomb. 

"I have to admit, that shape shifting stunt with Weems almost worked." Thornhill pretends to compliment as she grabs a stack of tesla coils and sets them down on the many jars of body parts she's collected over the past few months as if they were lids. "But as my father always said, if you wanna outsmart an Outcast, you've got to out-think 'em." She quips with a soft chuckle as she inserts the second to last one, now stepping towards Wednesday. "You know, we have roots that go all the way back to Joseph Crackstone."

"So you come from a line of psychotic killers too." Wednesday notes almost as if it was a compliment, which only presses on the woman's buttons.

"Joseph Crackstone was a visionary dedicated to protecting Normies from Outcasts until his life was cut short by your ancestor, Goody Addams!" Thornhill barks at her, saying the Psychic's ancestor's name with absolute distain. "And then to add insult to injury, they stole his land to build that abomination of a school!" She snaps before realizing that she's shouting at an ignorant child, taking a deep swallow to calm herself down, focusing on her important work. "But throughout the centuries, my family has remained committed to Crackstone's mission. My brother died serving that cause, I decided to take a different approach." She reveals to Wednesday as she screws the last coil onto the final jar, allowing the girl to put two and two together.

"Tyler's been collecting all of these body parts to resurrect Crackstone."

"The one man who nearly succeeded in eradicating the Outcasts, which he also did using a Hyde, Y/N's own ancestor no less." Thornhill confirms with a happy grin filled with excited glee, stepping towards the coffin itself for one last step. "Isn't that such a literally definition of history repeating itself?"

"You can't wake the dead. Believe me, I've tried."

"I believe your ancestor Goody Addams would disagree." Thornhill playfully responds as he pulls out a large book from the top of the coffin, which Wednesday instantly recognizes. 

"Goody's Book of Shadows." Wednesday mummers, before her eyes go wide in realization. "You're the one that stole the original from Pilgrim World."

"It wasn't enough for Goody to kill Crackstone, she had to curse his soul too." Thornhill notes with a bittersweet glance towards the coffin. "Cursed by the same bound that defeated the demonic being known as Revrax. However, our ancestor can only be freed by the death of another Addams." She explains in a way that makes Wednesday glance down.

[][][][][][][][][][]

"You are the key." Goody Addams whispered to her.

[][][][][][][][][][]

"And that's why your Hyde's never tried to kill me?" Wednesday manages to deduce with all of this information, making Thornhill smile.

"Still as bright as ever, aren't you? Glad isn't only for the conservatory." Thornhill remarks with a sanguine expression on her face, signaling what's not exactly the best of news for Wednesday. "On the night of a blood moon, the blood lock enchanting Crackstone's sarcophagus will be able to be picked. So, I bided my time, made you and Y/N feel special....." She explains until her lips creep into a deadly smirk. "Until you were ready to be sacrificed."

Oh, well, why didn't she just mention that from the start? It would've worked right away. "What does Y/N have to do with this?" Wednesday queries, noticing the way Thornhill mentioned his name. "I doubt you care so much about Tyler that you needed a 'fall-guy' for him." She remarks, making the woman almost giggle in response.

"Oh, Wednesday....... You think Joseph was the first one who tried to erase Outcasts from existence?"

_______________________________________

Nevermore: Wilderness

By 'leading the way', Thing has been on top of Y/N's shoulder while trying to be his quest marker pointing him where to go. However, even with being given a fixed route, it feels like he's making as much progress as someone who thinks that they literally have to go straight towards the marker in order to get there as fast and safely as possible. He almost trips on a branch that threatens to make him repeat Ajax's mannerisms.

"I keep forgetting how much of mother nature is around us...." Y/N, mutters in slight frustration as he stands from his knees, that part of his pants having been soaked in dirt at this point. "You sure we're going the right way?" He asks Thing once again to make sure, who once again just angrily taps on his shoulder that he's sure. "Yeah, so do I, but you're not exactly giving, 'relatable' or however the heck you say that stupid phrase." 

He sighs as he keeps following Thing's directions anyway, in spite of his feelings, during which, he feels more tapping on his shoulder. "What?" He half-responds while trying to walk, allowing him to mention the Rave'N. "What about it?" Y/N questions the hand who then apologetically brings up the dancing from earlier. "Oh, that? You know what? Don't fret about it too much. To be honest, I thought Tyler was a better match also, I was just being petty over something. Guess he somehow had us all fooled."

He keeps walking until he eventually gets to what Thing was appearently leading him to. The Nevermore Peo Cup docks. "Tell me you're joking. We are not going to sneak into Raven's from the lake side of the island, that's crazy." Y/N emphasizes with an almost horrified look as if he was some kind of special Vampire, to which the hand confirms that, that is indeed his plan. "I hate you..." 

He pulls out one of the old boats and much to his slight pain, drags it over until he pushes it into the lake. "Special privileges, my rear...." He complains before he stands up straight and reaches into his pants only to remember that these clothes are all he has. "Shoot, we should've stopped for clo-"

He's interrupted by Thing abruptly tossing his phone towards him, making Y/N catch it by instict. "Where did.....?" The student begins to question it with a slow head turn, but the hand shrugs as if saying that it's Donovan's. "Oh, cool, thanks for adding thievery to my list of potential charges." The teen nods sarcastically, before typing a half-stranger's number in.

Thankfully, the girl instantly picks up. "Hello? Who leaked my number again?"

"Enid, it's me." Y/N quickly introduces himself, automatically making the girl to expectedly go silent at the mere sound of his voice. "Listen, Wednesday's been captured by Thornhill. She's the real bad guy behind this, or.... bad woman, or... whatever! She killed Weems!" 

"W-W-What? W-W-W-Weems?!"

"You need to warn everyone in Nevermore, get the whole damn body out of dodge. Whatever's going in, Thornhill and Tyler are going to execute it tonight." Y/N tells her strictly, glancing over across the lake. "And before if you run into him....... the guy wearing a sweater and pajama pants is me." 

"O-O-O-Okay, got it!" Enid quickly says with a small stutter, and Y/N is right about to hang up until he hears a wear smacking sound coming from the other end. "H-H-Hey, stop it....."

Y/N blinks until he finally realizes what's happening. "Enid..... please tell me Ajax is not your room and has been giving you head during this entire convo." He pleads with his fingers pinching his nose.

....

.....

....

"Um, so..... what's with the pajama-"

Y/N instantly hangs up with a mental sigh, sharing a look with Thing. Welp, that explains the constant stuttering. "Well.... it is a full blood moon." He mentions with a shrug, not really in a position to blame anyone anyway. The hand also shrugs his wrist, thinking the same thing. 

They then get onto the boat, with Y/N making sure he grabs his paddle before hopping on. However, as he begins urgently stroking, they notice a certain problem. "Hey, you were aware these things always expect four people to be rowing, weren't you?" He brings up, causing Thing, who's awkwardly sitting and watching him, to just shrug. The boy sighs, already tired.

"Welp... enjoy the ride."

________________________________________________

Raven's Island: Crackstone's Crypt

Thornhill, who we're still going to call that because no one here wants to honor her by using her real name, steps over and disconnects the chains from the bar, before dragging Wednesday towards Joseph's resting place against her will. She tries her best to struggle for the sake of mild rebellion, but the woman eventually forces her hand against the blood lock.

 There, she takes out a dagger and doesn't waste a single minute before slicing Wednesday's palm open, pressing it against the seal. Soon, the thing starts burning out heat, causing the girl to gasp in pain as her hand gets scorched by the blood lock. She tries to pull it back, but it's like some kind of force is magnetizing her flesh against this magical restraint. 

By the time it's finally done, Wednesday accidentally sends herself onto the floor with a rough thud, prompting Thornhill to then grab the girl by the chains again and drags her to a random pillar she sets her down on. She tries to get herself back up, but the bleeding from her forehead as all but drained her energy, and she's coughing like a mess.

The blood moon's light reflects off the circular window on the ceiling, shining onto the sarcophagus. Thornhill watches in awe before excitedly grabbing the Book of Shadows and opens it up, double and triple-checking that she's on the right page before she reads the words. "Cum luna rubra tixerit!" She repeats what was engraved in this very tomb. While she's doing that, Wednesday reaches into her pocket to find one of her many hidden knives still on her person, bless the darkness.... 

She tries to mess with the keyhole of her chains while Thornhill is still reading the spell out loud. "Resurge! Resurge! Resurge!" The woman concludes passionately before dropping the book, prompting all of the liquid inside of the jars to start glowing, though it's not to highlight the many people she's killed, it's because the symbols around the sarcophagus in a circular shape are lighting up.

Once they're all lit, the window above to start flashing as if there was thunder crashing outside. Soon, the lock starts spewing out rays of electricity which the coils absorb, causing the liquid inside to bubble dramatically while it crackles. Black smoke then slowly erupts from the sarcophagus itself, slowing opening yet the display is enough to draw all eyes towards it. Thornhill watches in all as the smoke joins together until it creates a tall figure, a pilgrim in zombie skin......

Joseph Crackstone, alive and well.

Wednesday looks up at the man with a blank face, but there's still a little bit of Legally Blond-like horror inside of her. Seeing this feels like Rowan's mother's prediction is slowing coming to live, and that bad terrible she was feeling turned out to be true. "I am of your blood." Thornhill pronounces herself to the pilgrim who turns to her. "I have summoned you to rid the world of Outcasts once and for all!"

Joseph looks around with a small hum, curious about how much time has passed. "Where is my slave?" He queries, as if having expected Chax to be brought to live with him. His voice is a little raspier than what Wednesday remembers, but when you're laying day for a hundred years, its doubtful that anyone's going to siphon you any water.

"They..... cremated him after you were defeated, losing you as his master made him soft and guilt-ridden as if your cause wasn't just." Thornhill regrettably answers, maybe Joseph growl but with only a slight irritation at the circumstances. It's no matter, he won't need him anyway. "But I know better!"

The pilgrim stares at her for a couple seconds before extending his hand towards her, and Thornhill glances at his ring connected to her ridiculously long-nailed fingers, which she quickly bows down and kisses it for allegiance. "My vengeance will be swift and true."

"As will mine." Wednesday adds as she abruptly stands up with an angry glare, having not taken her shovel to the head and imprisonment so well. The two jerk their heads towards her as she goes to grab the knife, only to be abruptly stopped by a magical force. She looks up and sees Joseph's staff glowing, casting some kind of telekinetic spell on her, though much more powerful that Rowan's ever was. 

"Goody Addams! You haunt me still." Joseph mistakes the girl for her ancestor that she is admittedly an exact mirror to. Wednesday has never seen such an item that can channel an Outcast's power, but she guesses that the pilgrim understood a very important lesson that helped him out. If you wanna beat them, join 'em, and then beat them. "You will suffer the same fate you bequeathed me." He threatens before giving Addams her eternal reward, taking the knife out of his chest and impaling it in hers. "Now burn in the eternal fires of hell...." Crackstone hisses as he then twists the blade around, making sure it scratches every inch of her heart. "....where you belong!"

He then exits the tomb with Thornhill gleefully following him. "Sweet dreams, Wednesday!" She mockingly yells right before they leave Wednesday with the knife in her chest. The girl falls to the floor due to the loss of blood, groaning as she feels unable to breath at a steady pace.

Once the doors slam shut, she's surrounded by darkness.

_____________________________________

Raven Island: Meanwhile

Finally, they've made it across to the island. And although they didn't have a GPS on either of them, Y/N can safely say that it isn't an exaggeration if he said that took much longer than it did when he was rowing for the Poe Cup weeks ago. Since there's no opponents that could end up scratching their boat, Thing hops back on Y/N's shoulder and the two hastily make their way through the forest, hoping that Crackstone's Crypt isn't that far.

Now he also wishes argued with Xavier and went to go cap the flag.

"This is all my fault...." Y/N whispers to himself with a depressed shake of his head, though it's loud enough for Thing to hear who asks him what he's talking about. "Wednesday was right. I gave up on all of us because I wanted to take the easy way out, and now look where we are....." he gestures around the place with the hand that's not holding his flash-light phone. "I'm walking around in the woods in pajamas and a prisoner's sweater, in the dark, with your ugly..... palm." He complains, prompting the hand to slap him, offended, and he slaps him back.

There's a small rustle, causing Y/N to jerk his flashlight over to investigate, but he sees nothing from this angle. He continues walking with a loud sigh. "My friends are dead because I wanted to play hero...... I guess I thought it was a good idea at the time." He mentions with a shrug, but he knows that isn't a good excuse for chickening out when Wednesday needed him. Thing signs that he's here now, and they're gonna kick ass together once they free her, to which the teen chuckles. "Yeah, you're right." He says with a grateful nod. "You know what, Thing? You're not that bad."

Thing scratches his palm, pretending to blush. 

They finally make it to the crypt. "Oh, thank gosh..." Y/N lets out a sigh of relief, worried that it was going to take longer. However, as they're walking towards the doors, they swing open, prompting him and Thing to freeze. "Crap!" He hisses as the hand taps on his shoulder for them to hid, and he doesn't hesitate in listening. 

The two sprint towards the trees where the two of them instantly drop onto the dirt and leaves. There, they both watch as Thornhill exits the crypt with a scary looking zombie dressed as a pilgrim taking the lead. "Wait, is that..... Joseph Crackstone?" He whispers to Thing, who shudders in response, shattering some teeth if he could.

There's a brief moment where one of them accidentally scrapes against the grass, making a rustle noise that makes Thornhill freeze and abruptly turn towards them, causing them to duck. They lay as still as they can while shivering...... before she turns around and quickly goes to catch up with her favorite celebrity before it's too late.

With the coast thankfully clear, Y/N and Thing get up and jog towards and opens the doors, only to find the crypt incredibly dark. They look around, perplexed until they see the candles. He feels them for a second before instantly putting it away with a yelp. "That's really hot..." He comments, meaning that these things were literally put out two seconds ago at the very most.

Thing taps on his shoulder frantically, causing Y/N to glance and see him pointing somewhere. He follows it all the way to Wednesday.... bleeding against a pillar with a knife in her chest.

"Wednesday!" Y/N emotionally calls out her name, quickly running over and kneeling beside her. "Wednesday, Wednesday!" He does this multiple times as he squeezes her shoulders, shaking them a tiny bit until her eyes finally start to blink.

"Y..... Y/N?" Wednesday mummers upon seeing his face, her brows showing confusion until they show a mixture of anger and amusement. "Wow..... he was right, fate really is cruel to have me hallucinate you during my last few minutes left."

"Wednesday, it's me! For real!" Y/N tells her as he squeezes her shoulder tighter, causing her to blink a bit before eventually realizing that she's not getting last minute visions. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna pull the knife out, we're gonna get you some help." He tells her as he tries using his long sleave to wipe some of the blood off of her face. Wednesday tries to speak, but they come up as small whispers at best, and her eyes start getting heavy. "No, don't close your eyes, please." The boy begs, but despite whatever struggle she has with her mind, the girl's eyelids eventually close, never to move again.

"Wednesday?" Y/N utters her name once more, but Wednesday doesn't wake back up, no matter how many times he tries shaking her shoulder. "Shit.... there, uh... there has to be some way we can close this." He quavers as he looks back at Thing. "Help me out here!" He begs, and the also-terrified hand is already trying to find something that can help her. "Wednesday?" He turns back to the girl, still not getting a response from her, causing her to pleadingly grab her face with both hands, causing some of the blood that's leaking from under her hair to get on his right one. "Wednesday? Stay with me, please. You cannot die. You're the smarter one, you're the more elegant one, you're better, remember? I-I-I'm the brute, I'm supposed to die, I'm supposed to... be in your place right now...." 

Wednesday can't reply, her face is leaning against the pillar, not Y/N's hands. When he realize that he's just spouting nonsense at this point, he presses a hand against his face in shame. "damn it....." He whimpers, wishing that he could back in time right now. "I did it again, I messed up again.... why do I always mess it up?"

He wishes he could just go back and reverse that decision that led him to all of this.

"There's nothing you could've done." A third voice suddenly chimes in, causing Y/N to stand up and snap his body around, seeing what can only be described as a Ghost coming out of nowhere, in almost nothing but white and gold except for her face. "This was always their plan."

"Goody Addams?" Y/N manages to recognize her, thanks to that painting in Pilgrim's world and the fact she looks exactly like Wednesday. Thing finger crawls his way over, causing the boy to glance at him. "Are you seeing this?" He asks him, to which the hand makes a weird gesture that likely means he looks pretty insane right now. 

"There is no time, we must hurry." Goody brings back up, re-directing Y/N's attention back to her. "Wednesday's bleeding to death." She points out like she's the doctor in Doom, to which the boy smacks his lips.

"No shit."  He says with a blank face. "How am I able to see you right now?"

"What a guide rip-off would call a 'trigger object'." Goody simply answers, prompting Y/N to glance down at his hands which are literally covered with Wednesday's blood. Guess that makes sense. "Listen, there is a way to heal Wednesday, her talisman that her mother gave it. It will allow one to pass through and heal her." She tells him the thing she wants to hear, with the only problem being that she's clearly building up a catch. "But Fate is often the ruthless definition of a 'fair trader', reviving someone from the dead comes at a great cost." She warns him, just like how Joseph's threatens everyone at Nevermore, but they can all guess how Thornhill feels about that price. "Are you willing to give it?"

Y/N process all of this, and Goody's choice of words. He kneels back down and reaches over to caress Wednesday's face again, wishing he could go back on memory lane right now if they weren't running out of time. He turns his head around over his shoulder, and looks at the ghost with a nod.

"Anything."

Goody accepts this answer with no visible reaction on her face. "Take my hand, hopefully it will make us divide the punishment in half." She instructs with her hand extended to her, although Y/N raises a brow at the word she used. "You think reviving my century-old children is a hobby of mine."

"Well, at least I can tell the two of you are related..." Y/N remarks in response to her mouth, taking her hand that he's surprised to actually be able to feel. Goody guides them both onto Wednesday's chest, more specifically, where talisman is. She presses their palms against it....

And eventually, Y/N feels his vision zooming into the obsidian jewlrey.....

__________________________________

??????????

.....

......

......

Man.... Y/N's head feels like it just went through an entire sewer drain after jumping into the toilet, but without the horrible smell and being smeared in everything that could make him un-clean forever. 

He blinks rapidly as he finally comes to. He groans while stirring himself awake, his vision swimming a little while he forces himself up. When he looks down, he realizes that he's wearing his Nevermore uniform with the jacket again for some reason, not sure why he himself changed if he's practically a parasite invading. 

Wait a second, is this Wednesday's uniform? It's incredibly black, yet somehow brightly colored at the same time. But then, he eventually realizes that his hands are gray, and so is the rest of his skin. Hold on.... is he in black and white? How is that possible? Looking up reveals what looks like the living room of a mansion, and that everything is in the same color spectrum as he is. 

"Wow, even her mind is black and white..."

*Laughter Track*

"What the-!" Y/N jumps at the sound of a hundred people laughing at him. However, he sees no one in sight, and no hint that he's in some kind of movie set. "Who's laughing?! Where am I? And why is-?"

"Hey there!"

Y/N half-screams as he turns around to see Wednesday once again appearing out nowhere which triggers another laugh track, somehow still able to catch him off-guard despite him thinking that he got the clues in earlier. Except, this Wednesday is clearly much younger, his cold expression is still there, but she looks a little more friendly for someone who enjoys spiders in her pinata that crawl all over her rather than candy. "Um...... hello?"

"Mom and Dad didn't mention any visitors." The young Wednesday points out with an observing look, not calling them mother and father like Y/N expected. "What are you doing here? You look younger than the other babysitters I scare off."

"Uh...." Y/N awkwardly realizes he has no idea what to say, especially when talking to some kind of mental image. "I'm, well... looking for-"

"Actually, that doesn't matter. I need your help." Young Wednesday states as she grabs Y/N's hand demandingly, pulling him to follow her as they go through the mansion all the way to some library that is big and packed with bookshelves. "He's sleepy and needs a bedtime story, what would you suggest? It's either that one involving the mouse and a cookie, or autopsy report." She asks as she starts scrolling her finger through folders and books.

"What?" Y/N utters at the second part, before deciding to get himself un-lost in this scenario. "Wait, who needs a bedtime story?"

"Nero, silly, who else?" Young Wednesday answers with a childish look that's judging him for not knowing that. "We just finished going on our afternoon walk, and the poor guy is exhausted. But you know him, no sleep until he hears a story." She tells Y/N with a bright smile on her face, liking it anyway. "He's the best, isn't he?"

"Yeah, sounds like it." Y/N agreeingly comments with a bittersweet nod. Now he gets it. This is Wednesday before she lost her scorpion, before she became someone allergic to tears and emotion, just a scary little girl who was herself and enjoying the 'dark' sides of childhood. "Probably this one." He suggests as he grabs what he thinks is a book, only for it to be the cover of the most horrific crime scene photo he's ever seen. "Oh my-"

"-gosh, you're brilliant! Young Wednesday exclaims as she excitedly takes it in contrast to the sensitive babysitter's reaction, obviously agreeing with his choice. "This is his favorite aside from that mouse one! This always puts him to sleep."

"Good to know." Y/N answers with a blank nod as Young Wednesday strolls past him, prompting the boy to follow her down the hallway. "So, uh.... where's everyone else?"

"Oh, they get around often, and Lurch is away, which is why you're here!" Young Wednesday answers with such energy that Y/N didn't believe to be possible in seeing on an Addam's face. "You must get along with people easily, I mean, you instantly knew what Nero liked!" She comments with a grateful face. "I love Nero, who do you love the most?"

"Uh.... my uncle?" Y/N answers with a small chuckle, not sure whether to be happy or sad that this is the best interaction he's shared with someone in such a long time. This image has no idea of his reputation, and it shows. "And, well..... there's this.... girl." He also adds, not wanting to say her name for obvious reasons.

"Ooooooh! Do you like her?" Young Wednesday eagerly questions, having a much more positive respond to the word 'like' than current Wednesday ever did. That's, interesting. The two eventually find themselves back in the living room which they stop at so the girl can interrogate him for more information. "Like, you like each other, kind of like?"

"Sort of?" Y/N half-answers as he leans against the doorway, not really sure himself. "I mean, we kissed once...." He mentions, to which Young Wednesday winces in disgust. ".... but, I don't think I've really done a good job and showing how I feel about her." He expresses with a face of true guilt, knowing just how much he's messed up these past few days. "And, I'm worried that I might be blowing it before I even started."

"Oh, well, there's a way to show her!" Young Wednesday confidently states, getting the boy's attention. She sets the book down on a couch and stands in the wide area of the floor. "I'm an inspiring writer, you know? I wanna make my own stories! One thing I learned is 'show, don't tell'." She shares with Y/N, who just nods as if he doesn't know that. "So, if you learn how to dance well, she'll think you're boss!"

Y/N raises a brow. "Boss?"

"Neat.... groovy..... you know!" Young Wednesday name drops, giving Y/N a contagious look. He knows what she's talking about, but those words probably wouldn't be what come to mind, Wednesday's mind. "Come on, try it!"

https://youtu.be/SOFCQ2bfmHw

Y/N jumps at the weird sound affects soon followed by the music playing from what appears to be the record spinner even though it sounds like it's coming from everywhere. He watches Young Wednesday who is doing way too good at dancing for someone her age, or maybe he was right in thinking it was him that really sucked at it. When she occasionally glance at him, the same 'come on, try it!' look appears every time. 

Although not exactly sure if it will be any better, Y/N chuckles at himself modestly before eventually getting his arms and legs to move, doing his best to humor the girl. Although he's quite literally dancing like Dexter Morgan right now, Young Wednesday's smile grows as he joins the 'stage' if you want to call it that.

Eventually, it gets a little more comfortable for him, and Y/N starts actually moving with a groove in his step, getting down, as one would call it. Finally, he doesn't care about how he looks, he just dances like he actually cares, which brights his new friend's day. 

Once it's over, and the song's over, Young Wednesday crosses her arms and stares at him as if she's a critic. "Not bad... not bad.... you got a lot better at the end there." She comments with a small hum, before smiling gratefully. "You're pretty cool, you know that? I wish you were also the butler along with Lurch."

"Thank you...." Y/N quietly responds as he modestly plays with his jacket, though smiling almost as wide as she is. Then, he hears a loud creak and looks over to see a series of doors leading to.... well, nothing from what he can see, but sounds of a cello play from the other side, which leads him to believe that it's the way forward. "Welp, looks like my time is up." He tells the girl before heading towards it, his work here is done.

"Bye, Y/N!" Young Wednesday says with a happy wave, although Y/N doesn't recall telling the girl his name. Probably some kind of mental image thing. "I hope that girl thinks you're cool!" She wishes for him, prompting the boy to give him a bright smile.

"Me too."

He then marches forward and steps towards the doors, which eventually make him start feeling woozy again....

________________________________________

???????

Y/N stumbles as he doesn't immediately pass out like before, but feels like he just traveled through dimensions on foot. He stumbles forward and falls to his knees where he's barely able to catch himself. Taking a few deep breaths, he looks around and finds what feels like a room that you would find in Skyrim, that old Apocrypha realm, to be exact. Except the room isn't all green and the walls are covered with painting frames as well instead of just books.

Some remind him of Xavier's paintings, but with more simplicity behind them, but the rest of the percent are literally polaroids taken from what looks like her memories. Whether it's traumatic ones, like the graphic image of Nero's run-over corpse, to something happy like....

Is that.... when he and Wednesday kissed? Wow, she actually has that in her house of memories. 

His ears catch onto that cello, still playing like it has when he first heard it.

https://youtu.be/XNb-xBXouLg

(A/N) I know their different instruments, but I need an excuse to include this into the book, so let it be!

Y/N turns to the center of this room shaped like Crackstone's Crypt, but with walls so high that the ceiling is unable to see, and much, much wider, to see Wednesday still playing the song, her eyes glued to the sheets even though one could suspect that she's been playing this on loop for who knows how long. Oh, and she's back to her original age by the way.

He slowly walks over to her, not want to accidentally break her concentration, but needing to get her attention somehow. He circles around, calls out her name, before giving up on being considerate and just straight up clapping his hands in her face. But somehow, she gives no response. It's still, as if.... she doesn't want to be brought back.

However, Y/N knows how to prove it's him. He reaches over and softly touches her shoulder, which makes her almost stop, but keeps playing. Then, he leans very closely, whispering into her ear. 

"I love you."

Then, she abruptly stops, slowly looking up towards him then down at the hand. Her face is completely blank, but she responds by putting hers on top of it, gently squeezing his fingers. Her eyes tell him everything, all of the memories coming on the wall coming back to her. The music then continues, but for a more comforting reason than for her 'last few minutes left'. 

Wednesday meets Y/N in eye contact, and nods at him.

Then, everything goes into some kind of warp-drive.

_______________________________________________________

(A/N) And here's the new chapter!

Next one will obviously get into the final battle, which everyone's probably be impatient for. I'll try to get it out as fast as possible with it being the weekend all, but that might still take a few days since I might want to publish the Epilogue right along with it, so be warned.

I'm sure you guys know who's going to be fighting who at the end, which I'll be glad to bring to you! I hope you're all ready when everything comes to its impactful end!

Anyway, plz vote and comment, any kind counts as feedback, and I'll see you all in the next one!