Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There are many places to confess to your crush. It could be somewhere fancy, heartwarming, nostalgic, or familiar. It could also be at the back of your high school like the cliche and uncreative person you are. And that is exactly where a certain embodiment of fear decided to confess to his crush on prom night.

“Prom? With you? What a noob! I’d have more fun setting ants on fire, which is what I’ll actually be doing on prom night. Setting ants on fire is rad! Now… GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!” A terribly annoyed red demon snarls as he shoves the poor monster.

As the red demon walks away while smirking and showing the middle finger to the poor fear monster who asked him out, the poor monster slightly steps forward wanting to call out to him. Wanting to ask him to wait and give him a chance. But, who is he kidding? This is Damien LaVey we’re talking about. The only possible outcome of that is getting lit on fire. And even though that would heal rather quickly thanks to him being practically made of black substance, it would still hurt.

Watching the red demon turn the corner, Oz sighs dejectedly while covering his face with his hands.

“I really, really, messed that one up,” the shadow monster telepathically mumbled to himself. “The timing was so off, he wasn’t even into me enough to consider it!” As tiny black blobs pop up on the distressed monster's shoulders, they start patting him for comfort. “Ugh, that couldn’t have gone any worse.”

As Oz starts to feel his legs getting weaker, he leans against the back of the school building. “Now what? Do I just tell my friends that I got rejected so I won’t be going to prom? Will they be disappointed in me? But it’s not like I can even hide it.” Oz slowly slides down the wall and sits down with his head on his knees. “I…” he starts sobbing. “What’ll happen to our f-friendship? I-it’ll be awkward t-talking to s-someone who r-rejected you. I… I ruined everything, didn’t I?”

The night comes and Spooky High becomes bright with lights, dancing, laughing, and music as Oz sits at the back of the school listening to it all in envy. He curses himself for even trying to get a prom date and how Damien was totally out of his league so the outcome was obvious. He continues to quietly sob at the back of the school staring at the full moon. He can hear a loud howl as the werewolves become rabid. But, Oz can’t hear any of it. He just stares blankly at the stars in wonder. He listens to the grass as it rustles and turns in the wind. But, the rustling is getting louder?

Oz flinches out of his blank state as he notices a dark cloaked figure in the woods of Spooky High talking to a corpse. Talking to corpses wasn’t really all that odd at Spooky High but it was still intriguing. Wiping his black inky tears, he stands up slowly squinting his eyes to see the figure better. As Oz turns on his night vision, the dark cloak wasn’t at all black. It had intricate patterns in gold and the figure seemed to be… taking a selfie with the corpse.

Curiosity takes over and Oz decides to say hi.

“U-um, hello? W-what are you doing?” Oz asks while fidgeting with his fingers.

The cloaked figure turns its head showing magenta eyes and silver-white hair as the hood falls down. “Hmm? Oh, hello there.” The figure says rather coolly as they put their hood back on. “You see, I was just mid-conversation with this soul.” The figure points in the direction of a floating ball of light that seems to be screaming about how unfair his death was.

After staring at the soul in awe, Oz turns to the figure next to him who seemed taller than he thought from afar. Certainly taller than him. The figure was holding a gold-cased phone and had skeleton-like white patterns along its body. They had a glowing heart shape in the middle of their chest as well as magenta nails. But the feature that stood out most to Oz was the fact they didn’t button up their shirt at all. In embarrassment, Oz covers his eyes with his arms and looks away.

“U-um, d-do y-you usually w-wear it l-like that?” Oz stutters out as white blush covers his face.

As the figure looks at Oz in confusion, they look down and his eyes suddenly widen as if in understanding.

“What? Oh! Simply a style choice. My fans also seem to adore this look,” The figure says confidently.

“O-oh, but I’ll keep l-looking away for now.”

The cloaked figure stares at Oz in amusement before turning around to face the soul again.

“Are you done?” They ask, after typing a few tags onto the selfie they took with the soul’s corpse.

The soul sighs loudly then looks at the figure. “Yes.”

“Then take all your belongings and come with me. Thankfully you don’t go above the weight limit.”

Oz, slightly wanting to question the weight limit thing, decides to stay quiet.

As the soul and the cloaked figure are about to leave, they turn around to face Oz.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I’m Milo Belladonna, a grim reaper, and social media influencer.” Milo waves as the gold bracelets on their arms dangle.

“Oh! I-I’m Oz. Nice to meet you!”

“Likewise.” A portal opens up in front of the soul and Milo as they both step into the afterlife or hell.

As Oz stares blankly at the place where Milo was standing, he quickly remembers that it's late and he should head home. He quickly moves to one of the tree shadows and merges into it and exits out from his kitchen countertop’s shadow that he hits his head on.

“Ow!”

Chapter Text

After prom night, Spooky High went back to normal. Or, as normal as it gets in Spooky High. The school didn’t end until June 4th so there was only one week left until then. Most of the students took advantage of the laziness of the teachers that came at the end of the school year. Whether that meant going to class as normal or having sex with a plate of mac ‘n cheese, Spooky High practically immediately moved on from the events of Monster Prom. However, there were some students who were still affected by their prom experience. Especially those who were turned down by their crushes.

Somewhere in an apartment complex is a moping embodiment of fear hugging his couch pillow.

“Ugh!” Oz groans telepathically while tossing and turning on the small grey couch. “School is not the place I need to be right now. Finals are over so I don’t really need to attend class.” Black blobs, also called phobias, pop out on Oz’s arms and shoulders trying to cheer up the heartbroken monster. “I know, I know. But, I’m still skipping.” Oz’s phobias squeak in disapproval. “I can’t face Damien!” Oz huffed. The many phobias crossed their arms and looked at him disappointedly. Oz sighs. “I’ll only skip today. I’ll go the rest of the week. I just… need a break, okay?” Hearing this, the Phobias squeaked softly and merged back into Oz.

Left alone in silence, Oz decides to get off the couch to get everything off his mind. Most of Oz’s calming activities include walking, reading, hunting, and hiking. Oz had a certain love of nature that he couldn’t describe. He was older than time itself. He’s even older than Zoe who’s an eldritch abomination of insanity. Seeing nature reminded him of when he used to roam around with no real purpose other than to eat. Although he did feel lonely looking back to those times, it was also nostalgic. Of course, it also reminded him of how grateful he was for his friends.

While thinking about what activity to do, Oz’s phone dings on the coffee table. Picking up his phone, Oz reads the notification.

Color Gang Group Chat

Vicky: Hey! Oz! Where are you!

Brain: You usually arrive early

Amira: We didn’t see you at prom!

Reading the last one made Oz grimace. Right, he had to explain what happened and how he got brutally rejected.

Oz: Sorry guys. I’m skipping school today.

Amira: Oz skipping school?!

Vicky: Our Oz skipping school?!

Brian: Okay

Vicky: Whyyy though?

Oz: I’ll tell you at school tomorrow.

Amira: What happened at prom though?

Deciding to ignore the last one, Oz pockets his phone and goes back to choosing an activity for the day. Walking makes Oz think and he doesn't want to think about anything right now just in case his mind goes back to Damien or prom. Reading would be nice but he’s read all the books in the local libraries over the years and the only one he hasn’t is the school library and that would destroy the whole purpose of finding an activity. The only options left were hunting and hiking. Oz’s “hunting” wasn’t exactly the hunting of animals. No, it was the hunting of humans and monsters alike. As the embodiment of fear, Oz devours fears and people’s phobias as food. Just like monsters and humans, Oz feels satisfaction after eating so it's a pleasant activity. Oz had decided to combine the two and hunt while hiking.

Before taking off, he grabbed a black dress shirt shoved at the back of his drawer. He contemplated if he should iron out the wrinkles but figured it doesn’t really matter. After all, he’ll need to wash it once he gets back anyway.

After jumping into the closest shadow, Oz traveled through the void and jumped out of a tree’s shadow in the hiking vicinity. As Oz searches around for the dirt pavement signaling the hiking path, he takes the time to appreciate the serenity of the forest. Spooky High was hardly a “serene” place. With all the so-called “pranks” that might as well be considered a terrorist attack and the constant criminal activities the school somehow overlooks, it can hardly even be called “quiet.” And Oz is 101% sure the students will keep it that way. Even the forest around Spooky High is at its mercy with people like Vera Oberlin, the school’s greatest criminal mastermind and self-made Gorgan doing “business” there. Or, that incident with Milo should prove this point enough. In this forest though, it's quiet, tranquil, and the rustles of the leaves don’t automatically mean you're being targeted but that the animals are scurrying around.

Taking a deep breath of fresh, forest air, Oz halts his refreshing walk to the sound of a much louder rustle in the bush beside him. Jolting his head to the side and watching the bush, he quickly loses any hostility as he realizes that the bush looks… handmade? Confused but somewhat amused, Oz walks over and picks up the bush. Being much older than time, his strength isn’t something to scoff at. Although, he would like to hide this fact from his fellow classmates.

As he picked up the bush, it was much heavier than he anticipated and green lizard feet sprouted from the bottom of it. Quizzically staring at the bush feet, Oz pulls at it, dragging out a…! C-chameleon?

“Well hello there! It seems you’ve found me!” The were-chameleon says enthusiastically. “I guess I have to up my camouflage game!”

Oz, shaking out of his shock and confusion, lifted an eyebrow. He didn’t understand why a chameleon would need a bush for camouflage if he can just change his skin color. It didn’t seem necessary nor practical. Although maybe it was because he would have to be naked for it to work. Seeing a bush-dressed were-chameleon is 10 times better than seeing a naked one.

“You, young man, do you wish to know the art of camouflage?” He asks with a grin. “With that dark skin of yours, you’d do very well!” The were-chameleon scurries towards Oz holding his shoulders. “Well? What do you say?”

Oz, being a very naturally shy monster, flinched. “U-uh, well I don’t mind but-” Before Oz could finish his sentence, the were-chameleon grabbed Oz’s hand and shook it violently up and down.

“Very good! I like your spirit! My name is Counselor Flodge!”

“Counselor?” Oz asks.

“Yes! You see, I work as a counselor at Monster Camp!” He says rather proudly. “I was out searching for the best place to teach future campers the art of camouflage when I found you!” Counselor Flodge takes a pamphlet out of his pocket and hands it to Oz. “Come find me at Monster Camp and I will teach you the greatness of camouflage!” Saying what needed to be said, he puts his bush back on with a wave and runs away to find another place to hide from… whatever he was hiding from.

Oz looks down at the pamphlet Counselor Flodge gave him. It was advertising Monster Camp, a camp for monsters to learn about the wilderness. It seemed interesting with all the activities it included. Things like a nearby lake, a spooky manor, survival lessons, and…! A dome? It says it’s for fun PE-like activities but considering what kind of people will be going, its usage will likely change.

Throwing the pamphlet into the void to consider later, Oz goes back to his hiking.

As Oz walks along the rocky ground, he stops at the top of a leveled hill and quickly sinks back into the shadows after realizing how many people and monsters were at the top. There were at least 30 of them taking pictures and selfies of the landscape. Figuring this would be the best place to start hunting, Oz blankets the hill in darkness. They start panicking, screaming, and yelling. Oz’s black substance is void of any light and creates true darkness. Before stepping into the bubble of darkness, he changes out of his bright yellow cardigan and into the black dress shirt he grabbed earlier as it was the only shirt he had in black. Buttoning it up and throwing his yellow watch into the void. He grabs an axe from the void and steps into the dark bubble of screams and terror.

---

Hours later, Oz steps out of the black bubble covered in blood as screams of bloody murder leak out. Oz, with his jaw detached from his mouth with satisfaction, shows a sharp, toothy grin with sounds promising pain and terror for decades to come gurgling out. His once clean black dress shirt was drenched in blood. Realizing he can’t walk around like this, he takes off his shirt and changes back into his yellow cardigan while throwing his dress shirt into the void for storage. He takes his blood-covered axe and throws it back into the void and disperses the dark bubble, forever closing off the poor souls in there to be lost in the void till death finds them.

Death also goes by the name of Milo, Milo Belladonna. As if on cue, a portal opens up next to where Oz’s bubble or terror used to be.

Oz, flinching and quickly closing his mouth and sealing it away, turns to the figure exiting the portal.

“Well hello there darling. I didn’t think I’d see you here. And, I must say, you have wonderful taste in location.” Milo takes their phone and takes a selfie with one of the trees. “Life truly is the greatest gift,” they say fondly while staring at the selfie they took.

“Uh, so, are you here to reap a soul?” Oz asks while wondering if Milo knows what he just did.

“Yes, I got a gig for 20 humans in this area. But, there are clearly none here… Do you happen to know where they went? That many humans should be fairly easy to spot.”

“Oh! W-well, y-you see… T-they may h-have, um,” Oz stutters. He didn’t want Milo to know he took them to the void. After all, they may want to go there and many who enter don’t come out completely... sane.

Milo stares at him questioningly.

“Hmm, I came for my gig and my fans are expecting a new update on my #deadvirginhikers posts! I can’t just leave empty-handed!” They say exasperatedly. “My fans deserve to know every aspect of my brilliant life!”

Dead virgin hikers? Never mind, if Milo’s like everyone else at Spooky High, this much is pretty minimal.

“Oh, well. I can’t show you to them, but I can give you their souls,” Oz says, trying to negotiate without having to take them to the void.

“You can lead souls?” Milo says, lifting an eyebrow. “You don’t look like a demon and you most certainly aren’t a death reaper.”

Oz flinches. “T-that's personal.”

Somewhat curious, but mostly impatient to get to their fans, Milo sighs. “Fine, I’ve never been one to pry too much darling. Now give me those souls.” They say as they let out their hand with one on their hip.

“R-right!” Glad that Milo let it go, Oz quickly opens up the void and drags out all 30 souls of which he tortured previously. “T-there were 30 s-souls here and I-I didn’t know w-which specific 20 y-you wanted. S-so, I just b-brought them all o-out.” Oz says while holding the back of his neck. Maybe because they were in the void so long, the souls were still screaming. Oz silenced them by giving them a sharp look. He really hated loud noises.

“Huh,” Milo stares, impressed that such a small monster has 30 souls stored in what Milo guesses is his own pocket dimension. Milo shrugged it off and started recording and switched to blogger-mode. After all, monster society is filled with all sorts of people and abilities that just aren’t surprising anymore.

“Hello my Milovers! Today I’m joined by…!” Before they could introduce Oz, he sank into a shadow and left. Oz was not interested in being in a vlog. That would create unwanted attention. Instead, he left all 30 souls with Milo and shadow jumped home. Although that would mean being alone with his thoughts again. Thoughts of Damien, prom night, what could have been… Guess he’s back to square one.

Chapter Text

After what happened on Monday, Oz spent two days trying to find things to do to get his mind off prom. He spent Tuesday at school avoiding Damien and busying himself with make-up work and nonsense assignments. His friends made multiple attempts to try and find out why he was acting like this but he just shrugged it off and shadow jumped away. Vicky, a female Frankenstein, used all sorts of ways to get Oz to talk. From things like subtly sneaking it in a conversation to planning a kidnapping with a taser for “friendly questioning” purposes. Amira, a fiery djinn, chased Oz around the whole school to try and tackle him to make him talk. Several of her tackles started fires around the school (kudos to her fire for hair.) Especially Ms. Green’s science class. It exploded with… a couple of “living” casualties. And Brian, an undead zombie, did nothing. He wasn’t all that curious anyway. He was more interested in getting 24 hours of sleep if possible. If you asked Oz about his Tuesday, he would say he spent more time avoiding his friends than he did trying to avoid Damien.

On Wednesday, Vicky and Amira’s attempts dwindled down, to Oz’s relief as well as the school’s. He spent most of the day doing exactly what he did on Tuesday, minus the running from his energetic friends. He did run into Milo a couple of times but their conversations were rather brief because Milo always left mid-conversation about having a very strict “posting schedule.” Even though Oz didn’t know what that meant, he wanted to respect their wishes.

There were some pretty close calls in these two days. Especially in PE since Oz and Damien both had it for the sixth period. Oz had thought Damien would avoid him like the plague after the kind of reaction he had to his confession, but he seemed to be looking for him. When Damien and Dahlia were picked as team captains for dodgeball, it looked as if he was looking for a specific monster to join his team. Every time Dahlia proclaimed Damien’s ultimate defeat and the future defeat of the LaVey’s, he just responded with a lukewarm response, keeping his eyes on the crowd of students. However, the second he and Oz made eye contact, his eyes lit up. Of course, Oz shadow jumped out of the gym and chose to skip PE.

At lunch, the second Damien entered, he eyed the cafeteria, looking for the shadow monster. Oz, reacting a little too late to shadow jump away, was almost caught by Damien before the Slayer ambushed him by throwing a chanting nun at him. As we all should know by now, do not question the unanswerable.

As Oz continued to shadow jump away from Damien throughout the day, he kept wondering why he was acting this way. Why was Damien trying so hard to find Oz?! I mean, didn’t he hate him? Wasn’t that why he was rejected?!

---

Back to the present, it’s a Thursday and Oz was sitting behind Brian at the lunch tables.

“Oz!” Amira yells while trying to pull Oz away from Brian. “Why are you avoiding Damien!? What did the fucker do!?”

“N-nothing! A-and let me go!” Oz retorts while pulling his arm away from the angry fire djinn.

“Oh yeah? Then explain why you didn’t come to prom!” Vicky probes as she lunges at Oz who quickly dodges to another side of Brian.

Brian sighs. “Quit it, and stop roping me into your crap.”

“S-sorry,” Oz says weakly.

“Oz, you did nothing wrong,” Brian pats him on the head gently. “I was talking about you two,” he turns to them with an annoyed and tired look.

“Oh come on,” Vicky says while pouting. “Don’t you want to know too?” Brain shakes his head. “Not even a little bit?”

“Not even a little bit,” Brian says in finality.

As Amira and Vicky frustratedly back away from Oz, Oz telepathically thanks Brain in a way so only he can hear. He nods and falls back into his chair to sleep.

“Just know that if Damien really did do something,” Amira says, twirling a flame around her finger. “I won’t hesitate to fuck him up,” she grips the fame and it combusts around her hand as smarks fly.

Oz slightly smiles with his eyes. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary, but thanks.” In contrast, Oz’s Phobias form little hands with which they try to act imposingly with and nodded to Amira’s proposal.

“I would join in but Scott doesn’t like his friends getting hurt,” Vicky sighs, poking Oz’s Phobias causing them to squeak happily. “Scott is way too nice. Plus, if Oz wanted to, he could probably do it himself!”

“Yeah, he could if he ‘wanted' to. But we all know Oz hardly ever wants to hurt someone without good reason,” Amira says as she burns her food to a crisp. “I mean, do you really think he would hurt Damien? Like, even a little bit?” She questions as she shoves the ashes of her food down her throat.

“Maybe?” Vicky says a little unsure. “Okay, no. But still, my point still stands. He’s completely capable of doing so.” She turns to Brian with expectant eyes. “Right Brian?”

Walking up abruptly from his short nap, he jolts up. “Wha- oh, uh, sure?”

Amira snorts while Vicky looks absolutely unamused.

Wanting to quickly change the topic, Oz coughs to catch their attention. “W-well anyway,” Oz says while sliding back to his seat deciding it’s safe enough to come out. “How was prom for you guys?”

Immediately forgetting what they were talking about, Vicky brightens up. She slides her tray of food out of her way and starts explaining enthusiastically. “Well, you know that really loud howl?”

“We all heard it, it was kinda hard to miss,” Amira says, rolling her eyes amusingly while Brian and Oz nod their heads in agreement.

“That was Scott! He turned full werewolf on prom night because of the full moon!” Vicky takes out her phone and shows it to her friends while shuffling through photos taken on prom night. “It was wild,” she says dreamily.

Amira snorts. “I bet. You two practically vanished right after.” She turns to Vicky with a smirk. “Makes you wonder what you two were doing.”

“Oh come on, I know you know that Scott isn’t the type to do something like that,” Vicky groans, pocketing her phone. Amira raises an eyebrow. “He wouldn’t!”

“Fine, fine,” Amira says, raising her arms up in surrender. “But anyway,” She says, switching the topic for Vicky’s sake. “Prom night for me was pretty hectic. I bought some weird cult ring from Val that apparently was an invitation to a cult run by Vera.”

“It was run by Vera!?” Vicky says shocked.

“Not that surprising,” Brian says unimpressed. “Liam kept talking about wanting to know who the cult leader was so I checked the inside of the ring and it had ‘Vera. Co’ engraved inside.”

“Hm, I saw it too,” Oz said as he and his Phobias nodded their heads.

“Yeah, I found out that way too,” Amira said, recalling the incident. “I ended up doing it in front of some people in the cult. Guess my prom night was pretty steamy,” She said with a smirk.

“So it really was that kind of cult huh,” Brian said with a huff.

“Eh, it was a pretty damn weird experience but fuck it. I got to hook up Vera.” Amira turned to Brian. “So, what about you? Got a story for why Liam was prom king?”

“Oh, that,” Brian muttered. “Miranda roped me into helping Liam become prom king. Something about making Liam popular again.”

“I wouldn’t have expected that from you,” Oz said, surprised.

Brian shrugged. “I guess I just felt like helping,” he said nonchalantly.

“‘Just felt like helping’ my ass. When it comes to Liam you change,” Amira said, punching Brian affectionately in the shoulder.

“Right?! Brian hates being busy on Saturdays but he scheduled an outing just to go with Liam to some art museum,” Vicky says while pointing at Brian in accusation. “He wouldn’t even help me with groceries last Saturday and we live together!”

Brian blushes but quickly shakes it off and leans back into his chair. “Knock it off,” He says tiredly.

“Sure, sure,” Amira says.

While Oz looks between his friends as they continue to talk about their prom experience, he feeds his Phobias cafeteria food before abruptly telling his friends that he’s going to head out to hunt.

“Eh? Okay, see ya later!” Vicky says as the other two wave.

Oz gives a small wave back as he sinks into a shadow and travels through the void. He used the excuse of hunting to escape the conversation. He didn’t want to be forced back into explaining why he wasn’t at prom. After all, he wasn’t as successful as his friends and the explanation would make him remember things he didn’t want to remember.

As he was traveling through the void, he decided to pop up in a shadow near a bar called Spooky. Although Oz can’t drink since alcohol doesn’t affect him, he likes to visit this specific bar due to it having unique drinks that can’t always be classified as alcohol but who knows what else. Spooky High students also tend to frequent this place so it also made a decent fear-feeding ground.

As Oz steps inside the bar while slowly absorbing the surrounding fear, the sight of a certain drunk red demon makes him pause. Damien was arguing with an oni bartender about Molotovs and why setting a swarm of flies on fire was legal and absolutely fucking metal. Wanting to avoid Damien at all costs, Oz sits several seats away from him. As Oz slides into the seat, another bartender recognizes him and walks over.

“Oz! Here for feeding again?” One of the snakes atop the bartender’s head hissed as they handed Oz a cocktail that was filled with some thick black liquid that had bloody screams coming out of it. The bartender was a host of a snake parasite commonly found in forests. This particular snake parasite always wanted to work at a bar so they traveled all the way to the city just to prey on a bartender. It was also one of the few monsters who knew of Oz before he became “Oz.”

“Hey, Sam. Sorta, I just wanted some time away from school I guess,” Oz shrugs while reaching for the odd cocktail.

“You? Escaping from school to a bar? That’s like a snake parasite coming to the city just for bartending!” Sam hisses as they reach for a glass to clean.

“That’s- exactly what you did,” Oz says while looking at Sam questionably.

“Exactly! No wonder we’re friends!”

Oz smiles with his eyes before unlatching his gaping jaw to chug down the cocktail of whatever the fuck it was. “Delicious,” he says, licking his lips with a large black tongue. “Still, how did you even figure out how to make a cocktail of fear?”

“Trade secret!” Sam says proudly. They reach for a huge plate from the bar's cabinet. “The usual for the little guys?”

Oz, zipping his mouth back up, looks at his Phobias, watching them nod aggressively.

“I’ll take that as a yes then,” Sam says as they plate a large fruit tart and pass it in front of Oz. “We got fresh fruits this morning. Courtesy of the boss's wife’s negotiating.”

“Lia has always been good at those kinds of things,” Oz says as he lifts the plate up to his shoulders for the Phobias to engulf. “Doesn’t she practically manage the finances of the bar?”

“Yep. She does more for this bar than the boss sometimes.” Sam sighs as they lean against the back counter. “He’s always gloating about how great marriage is. It wouldn’t be annoying if he didn’t do it every morning.”

Oz chuckles. “What about you? Don’t you ever gloat about Vivi?”

“Ha! There’s nothing to gloat about perfection!” Sam laughs cheerfully. “After all, the second they see her they get all jealous. Better not to mention her to keep them away.”

Sam and Oz chat for a bit about their daily lives and random topics like what hunting areas are best for fear and about how some rich man’s kid got preyed on by a snake parasite named Tom.

“How is it even possible they didn’t find out he was a snake parasite’s host until weeks later!?” Oz asks, absolutely dumbfounded.

“Apparently, Tom found a bag on the floor and covered his head with it and refused to take it off unless the boy’s father would take off his obviously glued-on wig.” Sam takes out a cloth bag from beneath the counter. “See? I have one too just in case my head freaks out customers.”

“Wha-” Before Oz could ask further, a loud boom was heard from Damien’s direction.

The two quickly shift their attention to the sound. Apparently, Damien had thrown some type of explosive in a burst of sudden anger. This was evident based on the buckets of swear words and creative insults that were being thrown around.

“That damn brat,” Sam’s many snakeheads hiss. “He comes here, argues with the staff, then somehow convinces our bartenders that Molotovs are a type of cocktail!” Sam’s snakes shake their heads disapprovingly. “I can’t believe we even had to initiate a separate training course for our staff for ‘Ways to Refute Damien LaVey’s Arguments on Molotov Being a Cocktail.’”

Somewhat amazed and horrified that Damien was able to get them to make him a Molotov, Oz gapes at the slowly growing fire. “Shouldn’t we do something?” Oz says, turning to Sam wordily.

Sam pauses for a bit before turning all his snakeheads to Oz. “Honestly, yes. But frankly, no.” Sam takes out their phone to show Oz a series of tallies. “This is how many times he’s done this. His visits have even increased recently. Probably ever since that prom of yours.”

Oz, confusingly looking back and forth at the tally and Sam, suddenly started to panic as Damien got ready to throw yet another Molotov. Damien had jumped on top of the bar’s counter laughing maniacally while holding a Molotov in each hand.

Oz starts rushing towards the violent drunk in some effort to stop him. “Damien!” Oz shouts telepathically to Damien. In response to the sudden intrusion of the brain, Damien swiftly turns to Oz. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

Damien pauses to turn in Oz’s direction. “Oz?”

---

Watching Oz frantically run towards the drunk punk, Sam lets out a very tired sigh. As Oz was running, he let go of the plate the Phobias were eating from. Sam blankly stares at the broken shards of glass and crumbs of fruit tart. “Fuck you too Oz.”

Chapter Text

“Oz?” Damien asks with a surprised look. When Damien turned to face the familiar telepathic voice, part of him was hoping that it was Oz and not some other monster that sounds exactly like Oz and uses telepathy like him. And, when he turned around, he wasn’t disappointed. Oz was staring up at him in horror. Not in fear but more in mortification at what Damien was doing.

“Damien! What in the- why are you- what are you doing?!” Oz was somewhat speechless. He had so many questions, he didn’t know which one to ask first!

“Hey, noob!” Damien drunkenly yells as he sloppily hops down from the bar counter. “What do you *hic think you’re-” As he tries to finish his sentence, Oz, at the snap of his fingers, surrounds him in some sort of black goo and picks him up by the legs. “Hey!” Damien tries in protest. But, Oz just looks at him with his arms crossed unamused as he hangs upside down.

“What do you think I’m doing?” Oz asks in exasperation. “What do you think you’re doing!” Oz exclaimed. “I’m throwing you back to hell,” Oz huffed as he opened a shadow portal.

“Put me *hic the fuck down!” Damien complained in a drunken rage.

Ignoring Damien’s angry pleas, he walks closer to the portal. That is before the oni bartender that Damien was arguing with stops him.

“Hey! No portals to hell are allowed in this area!” The oni exclaims after shaking off the pure shock of Damien’s outrage. “And not just in the bar but in this whole city!”

“Wha- why?!” Oz asks in flustered confusion.

“Some demons came by a couple of weeks ago and opened portals to hell all over the place. Apparently, thousands of humans entered the portals to the afterlife too early and caused an uproar in the grim reaper company,” The oni says in exasperation as if he’s repeated this several times already. “Anyway, long story short, any demons, humans, or monsters opening portals to hell in this city will be taken straight to the Grim. Co for punishment. Did you not see the poster we put up next to the door?”

Oz turns to the front door to see a poster stuck to the side of the wall that says, “No portals! Those who do will be taken by Grim. Co.” They even had Milo as the face for the poster making an “X” with their fingers. It even had Milo’s social medias written at the bottom.

“T-that doesn’t make any sense! How will demons get home then?!” Oz replies in disbelief.

“And don’t even think about doing it in secret! Those damn reapers see everything! Everything I tell you!” The oni screams pointing an accusing finger at Oz.

“But-!”

“If it really bothers you, you can just leave the brat here and when he wakes up, I’m sure he can take his ass home,” Sam says carefully picking up shards of glass.

“I-I can’t just do that!”

“And why not? Are you guys close or something?” Sam asks looking up at Oz.

“Uh, well… Not particularly, but-!” Oz stops himself. Why was he trying so hard to take Damien home? I mean, he isn’t any of his responsibility. Heck, Oz spent the past days avoiding the guy so why was he trying to help him? Was it a guilty conscience? Did he not want Sam to have to deal with Damien? Was it because they used to be friends and he can’t just stop caring about the stupid demon?! What was it?! What’s the reason?!

“Whatever,” Sam huffed as he poured all the shards into a garbage bag. “If you really want to, there are plenty of other ways demons can get to hell.”

“Other ways?” Oz asks while fending off Damien’s rabid kicks to get him to let go.

“Yeah. So get out and figure it out. I’ve gotta clean the mess that menace made,” Sam hissed shooing them out of the bar before Oz could ask any more.

“Hey *hic asshole, bloods rushing *hic to my *hic head,” Damien says dizzily, still hanging upside down.

“S-sorry,” Oz replies as he flips the demon over while still holding him up by the armpits with his shadow. As Oz continues to hold Damien up, he starts to brainstorm how to get Damien home or at least get him somewhere safe, and isn’t Oz’s responsibility. “I’m tempted to just shadow jump us out of the city then just open a portal there, but…” The void isn’t kind to anyone who isn’t Oz. Anyone else would be subjected to immense mental suffering as the amount of fear that is stored inside the void would be too much for them. Especially since that fear has been constantly piling up for as long as Oz has lived. And Oz has most definitely lived past you’re great, great, great, great, great, blah, blah, you get the point. He’s lived pretty darn long. Longer than time itself. So, of course, even someone like Damien couldn’t handle the void.

“The hell you *hic thinking about?” Damien asks impatiently. Oz, a little impatient himself knocks him out. So what, “he used to be his prom crush?” Oz is not dealing with shit today, at least not from him.

So what then? Sam said demons can get home using something other than a portal right? Taking out his phone, Oz searches up “ways to get to hell.” There were a couple of weird websites that were on the first page like cult forums and shit. But, there was something mentioned by someone on Twitter by the name @✨totallyrealdemonfromdemonhellandshit✨ saying there was a bus that could take you to hell. Honestly, it didn’t seem all that reliable especially with the account name, but he didn’t have any other option. And he most definitely wasn’t taking him home.

According to the tweet, it worked like a magical uber. You used their app to find the closest bus stop to you and the app would teleport you to the bus stop. It even included a detailed schedule of its stops.

Going on his phone to search up the app, he found multiple but most of them were probably knock-offs of some sort. After five minutes of going through reviews and r/bestdemonbusapps on Reddit, he found an app with good reviews and recommendations. Honestly, he was pretty surprised he did all this in five minutes.

After installing it and making a fake email for the account, he went through all the procedures before finding the bus schedule. It had a graph of all today’s trips and a button for teleportation.

But, before going, Oz dropped Damien from his shadow and draped him over his shoulder just in case the teleportation needs physical contact for more than one passenger. When Oz tapped on the 1:45 PM trip to the eighth circle of hell, a large teleportation circle surrounded the two as they vanished and appeared at the bus stop. As Oz opened his eyes, he instantly realized that they were in a small pocket dimension. It was never-ending like Oz’s void but it was stained with all sorts of red as they swirled amongst each other. It also created a sense of dread, although much more diluted than the void’s. In the middle of the pocket dimension was a rather normal-looking bus stop with a few demons lounging around waiting for the bus.

Walking up to the bus stop, some of the demons gave him a look but went back to what they were doing. As Oz stood waiting for the bus with Damien still dangling over his shoulder, he occasionally checked his watch for the time.

A couple of moments later, a bus comes screeching to a stop in front of them on an invisible road. It looked like a regular plain red bus. It didn’t look old nor creepy. However, all of a sudden, eyes formed on the side of the bus and popped open. A mouth followed after.

“Get in and give the money to the driver,” the bus mouth boomed before fading away again.

Somewhat shocked but also used to this level of oddity, Oz follows suit of the three other demons and boards the bus. When it was Oz’s turn to pay, he handed them a ten and picked the very back seat, propping Damien up next to him. He thought the price was overpriced but considering hell is dimensions away from the Earth, it makes some sense.

Once inside the bus, Oz could smell weird odors, the most potent being death and something burnt. The worst burning smell being burnt hair. Deciding it was too much to bear, he turned off his sense of smell.

During the bus ride, Oz was able to enjoy some sightseeing of the other circles of hell. Although the bus did teleport so it was somewhat brief. But, the bus would stop once and a while next to another stop and pick up passengers. Apparently, the pocket dimension bus stop is only for demons coming back to hell. The bus stops found in hell were for those going to Earth. So, Oz used this time to really observe it all.

Hell wasn’t all that different from Earth minus the odd weather, red sky, the odd amount of suns, and fire bursting out of every corner. It had modern technology like Earth and its architecture wasn’t all that different. However, Oz did notice that the use of magic was much more common. They used it to make the homes fireproof and many of the vehicles functioned on magic to avoid the random bursts of lava.

You would think the souls of the damned would be put in a separate area of the circle but they actually roamed around hell and demons would just punish them on random. Some demons even kept them in some cage-looking thing next to their house. So it was pretty chaotic and most certainly lived up to its reputation.

---

When the bus finally stopped, Oz picked up the still unconscious Damien and carried him princess style. Although it was kinda embarrassing, he didn’t want to be caught carrying the prince of hell over his shoulder. That might lead to unwanted consequences from the royal family.

The bus stop was a disheartening distance away from the LaVey’s castle. According to further research, hell bus stops--they’re official term--are only used by low-ranking demons who can’t teleport by themselves. So, of course, they weren’t even close to the royal castle where the highest-ranking demons are located. This, however, is not a problem for Oz since he can just shadow jump there.

After shadow jumping into the closest shadow, he found himself in front of a looming castle engulfing most of the surrounding land as large towers built within the castle stood tall. Encircling the massive castle was a heavy mist with a gate dead center. The gate in front of him was guarded by a large three-headed dog covered from head to toe in blood and surrounded by bones.

“Hello there,” Oz says telepathically to the dog, catching it off guard as it swings its three ginormous heads in every which way. It does eventually spot Oz and the knocked-out Damien standing below it in front of the gate.

The demon dog stares at Oz cautiously but doesn’t really do anything as Oz pushes the gates open. It seems that it recognized Damien and let Oz through because of it.

As Oz entered the gates, he started to sweat as the mist was practically on fire and made up of acidic gases. Although the gasses didn’t affect him in any harmful way, it was annoying having parts of his body melt off without his permission. Among the mist, you could very clearly hear screams of those who had gotten lost. Oz had even passed several melting corpses on his way through the mist. After all, it was easy to get lost if you didn’t know the way or you didn’t have god-like skills like Oz. As the mist started to clear as Oz neared the end of the misty maze, he could clearly see two large doors in front of him. The two large doors are embedded with complex designs made in gold and made of redwood. Although they seemed too heavy for any normal person to pry open, Oz easily pushed them open using his back since his arms were preoccupied with carrying Damien.

The door opens, blinding Oz from the shining light illuminating the royal hall. The ceiling was several miles high with intricate designs of gold and marble complete with beautiful chandeliers and pillars lining the edges of the hall. There were huge chalices lit with flames in its cup. Advanced magic was used in every corner, every crevice. It in itself was a masterpiece. However, there was not a single servant nor worker in the area. Not a butler or maid as usual royal families have in sight. It all functioned on magic. Whoever the palace's great magic-user was, they had certainly gained Oz’s respect.

While Oz was admiring the palace, a huge spiral of flames erupted from the middle of the hall, surprising Oz as he flinched backward.

Slowly, the flames disperse and a single figure walks out. They wore a maroon-colored cloak over a dark orange robe. They had Damien’s skin and was without a mouth and horns. In their right hand was a staff with a skull aflame. And their aura was menacing. Of course, if Oz was anyone else, they wouldn’t even be able to stand.

“I suggest you put my son down,” The figure telepathically says while intimidatingly yet elegantly walking towards Oz.

“Oh! Um, a-are you Damien’s dad? I-I came to drop him off after he p-passed out drunk,” Oz says frantically.

The figure stops mid-way as their intimidating aura drops.

“Are you a friend of his?” They ask curiously.

“I-I guess y-you c-could say s-so,” Oz sputters. “A-anyway! Um, h-here,” Oz hands over the still unconscious Damien over to his dad.

Damien’s dad lovingly lifts up his son and smiles with his eyes. “Thank you, I’ll be taking him to bed then.”

“O-of course, have a good night!” Oz waves as Damien’s dad nods in his direction.

“Will you be needing a ride home?”

“O-oh, no. I should be fine. Thank you though!” Oz’s phobias squeak in thanks.

Damien’s dad chuckles. “You’re very welcome. Have a good night.”

Oz waves his goodbye as he exits back through the large doors and through the burning mist. As he reached the gate, he said his goodbyes to the three-headed hell hound with a “good boy” pat on the head and a wave. Although his prom experience with Damien was unpleasant and rather miserable, his visit to hell and his meeting with the people here were anything but. Even though Oz still somewhat dislikes Damien to a certain degree, he can’t argue that Damien gave Oz a chance to experience something exciting.

Chapter Text

Friday, the last day of Spooky High and arguably the craziest. Monsters all over the campus are creating and joining in any number of shenanigans. From things like “End of the School Year” parties but with rainbow flavored lizards instead of alcohol to adopting wombats to sell authentic poop janga, any and all irresponsible activities were open for tryouts. The school was practically on the verge of collapsing, literally! It isn’t that hard to imagine that hundreds of students tried to blow up Principle Giant Spider’s office. Some even tried to convince Coach that “Grenade Ball” was a type of fun sport. You could probably guess how that went… There were many, many, casualties.

During one such casualty, the auditorium’s glass shattered.

“YOU MISOGYNIST!” A purple tentacled eldritch in cult clothes screeched with her several eyes glowing red. She was holding several papers each with a drawing of two people kissing or some form of intimacy. “LET ME ENJOY MY GODDAMN ART!”

“Let you enjoy your art?! Nonsense! You probably think being an ALLEGEDLY cute girl whose purple and an artist makes you more interesting,” The reciprocate of the purple eldritch’s vexation, a bastard kappa, is pointing at the eldritch in indignation while the water on his head gets dangerously close to ruining the eldritch’s art. “Whatever you draw could never be forty more than my 275 follower count!”

“WHY YOU LITTLE SHIT!” She shrieks as her tentacles wave chaotically around her head.

Hearing the very loud racket and just as annoyed as the purple eldritch, Oz walks over in his yellow musketeer outfit.

“Leonard, can you not pull your shit on the last day of school?” Oz says in irritation as he throws his prop sword violently in the kappa's face. Some of Oz’s phobias stuck their tongue out at him.

“ACK!” Leonard groans as the prop hits him smack dab in the face, almost emptying the water in his head. “WHY YOU-” But before he could get another word out, Oz was already glaring at him to get lost. Intimidated by this, he starts to shuffle away, “Tch.”

“OZ! LET ME AT HIM!” The eldritch turns to Oz shaking in violent anticipation.

“Zoe, last time you did the entire school was destroyed.”

“BUT-”

“No buts,” Oz says in finality.

“Let your fellow eldritch have her way!” Zoe whines with her hands up in protest.

Oz shakes his head. “Wouldn’t you rather see the Coven shoot their last episode?”

Zoe pauses, staring at Oz blankly. Gasping in realization, she frantically turns to the clock on the wall. “OMG! They start in five minutes!”

“See? What did I-” Before Oz could even finish his sentence, Zoe had already left the auditorium to go find the Coven. “-tell you.” He sighs amusingly. Zoe and Oz share a family-like relationship. They’re both eldritch abominations who wanted to experience life like a normal person/monster. She’s one of the few people Oz doesn’t get nervous around or stutter when talking. He sees Zoe as a younger sister to him and she sees Oz as an older brother. They’re just a very wholesome pair of siblings that just so happen to have the power of a deity.

Turning to face his focus elsewhere, Oz checks his watch. Class still hadn’t ended and there were only a few people in the auditorium. Most of the other students were at the party tree drinking rainbow lizard cocktails concocted by the school's alcoholic Polly and the magical Latino cat Juan. The few students that are going to class were the designated “good ones” or just people who liked the class. This group included people like Blobert, Scott, Calculester, Liam, Vicky, Violet and her not-so-there boyfriend Tate, and Oz. Those like Leonard and Zoe were here because they enjoy “artistic classes” or something. Liam was also here for similar reasons. There is also another student named Fellow Student… or at least that’s what we think his name is. There’s also the Coven, but apparently, a new evil sprouted in the depths of “Something Something Mountain.” Yes, that is its actual name.

As Oz walked over to pick up the prop he threw at Leonard, a blob of orange slime with a sideways cap slid over holding a card in his hand.

“Hey there Oz,” he said cheerily. “I got a greeting card for you!” He handed Oz a very specific greeting card that said, “Hiya my classmate Oz,” in a very fun font. It even had Oz’s phobias drawn on which made them very happy.

“Thanks, Blobert,” Oz said, smiling softly with his eyes.

Blobert chuckled happily. “I wanted to give everyone a greeting card before the end of the school year, so I bought a bunch from Val!”

“Valerie? Oh, I think I saw those in her shop.”

“Yep!” Blobert reached into himself and grabbed a bunch of over-specific greeting cards. “Well, I’m off to give these to everyone. Bye!” He waved his slime hand merrily as he slid away.

While Oz was letting his phobias admire the card, Oz started filling out the return form for the costumes each student had. Even though it was doubtful if anyone else would actually return their costumes, the school still hoped they would. It was basically a way to check which students returned their costumes and which didn’t.

After filling out the form, Oz headed to the male changing rooms to take off his costumes. Class was about to end in 15 minutes but the teacher said they could do whatever they wanted anyway. So he probably didn't need the costume. There were a couple of other monsters in the changing room with the same idea as Oz but they created a weird ritual around their folded costume saying goodbye to it. It was pretty weird and Oz just looked away trying to ignore whatever sob story script they wrote to their costume.

Quickly running out of the changing room in his usual yellow cardigan and black jeans, he ran into Vicky and Scott who were playing fetch with one of the props.

“Who’s a good boy?” Vicky asks in that typical tone people use when they talk to dogs.

“I am! Scott is a good boy!” Scott says enthusiastically with his tail wagging back and forth.

“Then go get it!” Vicky yells as she throws a plastic ball in the other direction.

Scott bounds after it happily before coming right back to Vicky to return the ball.

“Good boy!”

Not wanting to disturb whatever happy moment they were having, Oz walked over to a dark corner in the auditorium to rest. After several periods of chaos and emotional turmoil of being rejected by his crush, he was ready to conk out. Even though Oz doesn’t actually need rest, it always helped with calming down and resting his mind to deal with another maddening occurrence.

Laying himself against the wall, he closed his eyes, slowly drifting to sleep.

---

The bell signaling lunch rings, waking the groggy fear monster from his sleep.

Opening his eyes, Oz finds a sentient library computer and a purple vampire staring at him.

Oz yawns exposing his cheek-to-cheek split mouth. Oz’s phobias also yawn with their tiny mouths opened in small ovals. “H-hey Cal, Liam. D-did you need something?” Oz rubs his eyes trying to get his eyes to focus.

“I think Brian’s sleeping habits are rubbing off on you,” Liam says with a huff. “That lazy oaf is always tired and sleeping whenever he wants,” Liam muttered in affectionate annoyance.

[ :) ] “Class has ended friend Oz. We merely came over to remind you.” Calculester states holding his hand out. [ :) ] “Please let me assist you in getting up.”

“Ah, t-thanks,” Oz grabs Calculester’s hand and gets up with a grunt. “Y-you didn’t have to stay behind i-if you didn’t want to,” Oz sputters feeling guilty.

“According to Cal, acts of ‘kindness’ are expected of classmates,” Liam says with a huff. “It was also a request from Vicky to wake you up since we planned to stay behind.”

“O-oh, right,” Oz says shyly. “Why were you staying behind-” Calculester cuts him off.

[ :D ] “Let us join our fellow life forms in eating around a table among others eating around a table.”

A bit taken aback by Calculesters abrupt interruption, Oz nods reluctantly. He follows the two to the cafeteria. Hundreds of monsters filled the room with chatter and nonsense activities. There were even signs of food being thrown as evident by the stains on the walls. It was loud and rambunctious as always but even more so by the excitement of the last day of school.

[ :( ] “I’m afraid this is where we part friend Oz. I made a promise to sit next to Damien as he said he had a very urgent matter to discuss,” Calculester said disappointingly as Oz flinched at the mention of Damien. “Farewell friend Oz, friend Liam,” he said, waving goodbye.

Oz and his phobias waved back.

“This is also where we part,” Liam said with a sigh. “Your friend Brian practically begged me to sit with him after all,” he said with fake annoyance, unable to hide the pink tint on his cheeks. “In any case, I presume you know where to sit?”

“O-oh, I’m sure I’ll manage,” Oz shrugged, not wanting to be a bother.

“...Alright then, good day.” Liam walked towards the table in the very back where a green zombie sat tiredly leaning against his chair.

Looking for a place to sit, Oz notices a lone lunch table in the room behind the vending machines. A grey figure practically completely naked dressed in only his drawers and a cap is the only one sitting in the room. Although somewhat curious and embarrassed by the display of skin being shown, Oz walks over to sit next to them.

“Oh! Hi, Oz!” They say as if they're familiar with him.

“D-do I know you?” Oz says in confusion as he pulls up a chair to sit next to the figure.

“Well you wouldn’t know me but I sure do know everyone here,” They say with a smile. “My name is Narrator, your friendly classmate who narrates everything that happens here at Spooky High!”

“Y-you what-”

“...and also the inside of all your minds and basically everything everywhere ever,” The Narrator says a bit too casually.

“I-is that s-so?” Oz stutters. “D-do you a-always sit here by y-yourself?”

“Indeed I do. But, it can get pretty lonely so I’m glad you stopped to say hi,” He smiles, tipping his hat. “You know, I sometimes watch the things the lot of you do and wonder: ‘What if I joined too?’”

“Y-you watch us-”

“Well, may I join you in your shenanigans? I would like to interact with my fellow classmates before the school year ends.” The Narrator looks at Oz expectantly.

“O-oh, u-uh, I-I don’t s-see why you c-couldn’t-”

“Wonderful! Please introduce me to each and everyone one of my classmates,” He says, shaking Oz’s hand excitedly. “Then I shall see you next period!” The Narrator walks out of the room happily leaving Oz in complete shock.

“Wha- okay, that just happened,” Oz says, still processing the event that just occurred. “Do you think he meant what he said about knowing everything we do?” Oz asks, turning to his phobias. They tilt their little head to the side. “There’s no way, right?”

As Oz continues to deal with his mental stress, he doesn’t even realize that I, the true narrator, narrates the Narrator.

Chapter Text

After what happened at the cafeteria, Oz started becoming more self-conscious about his thoughts. He was still curious whether or not the Narrator could actually read his mind, especially since most things Oz thought about was Da- daydreaming about not having anxiety! And he certainly didn’t want someone knowing about that. Plus, isn’t it kind of an invasion of privacy to do so? Moreover, to be able to read the mind of an eldritch deity like Oz and Zoe is remarkable in and of itself. It made Oz question what type of monster he was. To be able to outpower two eldritch abominations including every monster in this school but not be able to exist among them without Oz’s permission… Just what monster exists like that?!

As much as Oz wanted to ponder on it some more, he had already reached the room for his next period.

“Hey, Oz!” Amira screamed, rushing towards Oz. “You see that guy over there? Has he always been here?” She whispered once close enough to him. “The teacher didn’t say anything about a new guy. Plus, who joins on the last day of school?”

Following Vicky's pointed thumb, Oz finds Narrator sitting in one of the seats flipping through a book titled, Narration for Narrators Named Narrator or Named Nathaniel Nicholson Zachariah. It’s questionable why Oz bothered to read the entire title but perhaps it isn’t necessary to inquire about something like this.

“Oh, uh, I met him during lunch. He’s always been here.”

“He has?! But I would have totally noticed a grey half-naked guy!” Amira says in disbelief. “For god's sake, he doesn’t even have a face!”

“H-hey! Shh! W-what are you doing? What if he hears you?!” Oz whispers, putting his hand over Amira’s mouth.

“Oh, I can certainly hear you, and your thoughts loud and clear!” Narrator yells from across the room merrily. “Quite the entertainment you two cause!”

The two slowly turn their heads in Narrator’s direction.

“You may not have noticed but I even said my usual mandatory intro the second you entered CLASS,” Narrator says as he puts down his book. “So, what kind of shenanigans shall we run into today Oz, Amira?”

Amira stares at him quizzically. “Why did you say ‘class’ as ‘CLASS?’”
“Well, didn't you choose CLASS to earn +2 SMARTS to get closer to the character Vera?”

“No? I’m here because I have two friends who will literally hide all my alcohol if I’m not,” Amira says as she narrows her brows. “And what do you mean by ‘character’ Vera? This is real-life crackpot, not a video game.”

“Well, what if I told you life is a lie and you can’t actually do anything but gain stats to get closer to one person out of eight just to bone them after you take them to prom? And, that you also can’t think, talk, or do anything else without my narration and that we’re stuck in a forever loop of high school horny.” The Narrator says with a rather cold, dark look on his non-existent face.

“Well~, what if I told you that even though you're not narrating I can still tell you that you're an asshole and think you're an asshole?” Amira eloquently articulates despite her very vulgar language and two middle fingers up. “Asshole.”

The class goes quiet as a hush washes over the room. The teacher who should have stepped in by now was sleeping on her desk with marker all over her face and reeking of alcohol. It's safe to say that the teacher was vandalized and is a vandalization on the school’s reputation.

“What? You can still… think?” The Narrator asks genuinely perplexed.

“Yeah, dipshit. What have you been doing all your life? Obviously, none of it was necessary nor welcome,” Amira spits spinning a flame on her finger. “Also, you’ve got some nerve to call Vera a ‘character.’ If anything, we’re probably all characters in her game.”

“I-it also wouldn’t be n-normal if we needed the aid of s-someone else to use our brain,” Oz added.

“Wha-?! Then who’s the real Narrator?! Have I become a socially inept hermit just to be told my job was unnecessary?!” He yelled in indignation. “Who said that?! Who said: ‘He yelled in indignation?!’” Me. Now go back to “living life to the fullest” like the rest of your high classmates, you dumb shit.

Absolutely astonished at the fact he was not the real narrator, Narrator slouched down in his chair and began mumbling to himself chaotically.

“Astonished is a good way to describe my dumbfounded state. I suppose maybe telling the readers I’m holding my head in my hands would make it even better,” Narrator corrected. “I wouldn’t say ‘chaotically’ is the best adjective to describe my mumbling but it's good enough,” he unnecessarily added. “It’s not ‘unnecessary,’ it's constructive criticism.”

“...So uh, are we just going to ignore that or what?” Amira asks, turning to Oz for clarification. “Cus’ he looks like he’s on the verge of a mental breakdown.”

“I-I’m sure he’ll get over it soon,” Oz says reassuringly. “B-besides, t-this is probably good for him since he spent most of his life doing, um, something not that... ‘p-productive,’” he said, choosing his words carefully.

Oz’s phobias nodded in agreement.

Amira raised a brow. “Right~, ‘productive.’ Gotcha.”

As Amira started to head out the class door, her pocket vibrated from a series of spam texts.

Stitches: You better not be thinking about skipping class!

Stitches: I still have the key to your alcohol stash! >:(

Stitches: Do not skip class!

Stitches: Do not skip class!

Stitches: Do not skip class!

Stitches: Do not skip class!

Stitches: Do not skip class!

Amira: Stop it!

Stitches: Do not skip class!

Amira: I won't!

Stitches: Good :)

“I wouldn’t let you skip class anyway,” Oz said, smiling with his eyes coldly as he read the texts over her shoulder. “So, Vick doesn’t need to worry.”

“How did she know though?!” Amira shouts flummoxed looking around the room for a possible blue frankenstein lurking in the shadows.

Oz shrugs. “She has her ways. Not like this was the first time anyways.”

“Yeah but-!”

Stopping Amira mid complaint is a group of tumultuous teenagers running towards Narrator.

“Hey, you!” A red demon from the group of monsters rages causing Oz to instinctively sink into a shadow. “Why aren’t you doing your goddamn job!?”

“My job?” Narrator asks, snapping out of his needlessness.

“Yes. As a narrator serf, you have a duty to keep narrating our internal monologues. Especially mine,” a mermaid princess declares condescendingly. “Yet it seems you have taken what my serfs often chant called a ‘break.’ An unnecessary activity for serfs!”

“Please bro! I feel like I’m forgetting so many important things! I can’t even open doors!” A werewolf beseeched. “Pretty please with a Scott Snack™ on top?”

“My job isn’t even necessary! Listen, I just found out that my whole life was a lie and I’m not the real narrator okay? It's a lot to take in!” Narrator sniffles frustratedly. “Shut up! I’m not sniffling! And, I’m pretty sure you not remembering how to open doors is just you being you Scott.”

“Then what about my thoughts!?” Damien argues as his red skin burns incandescent with rage.

“Try thinking about something.”

Damien scrunches his eyes shut, thinking hard about something random. The first thing to come to mind was a rhinoceros in drag with a metal tattoo on his bicep. Of course, since this is Damien we’re talking about, the rhino's mascara was stunning and the glow was a magníficent chef kiss.

“Fuck, your right!” Damien shouts in realization. “That rhinoceros was fuckin metal!”

“Rhinoceros?” Scott and Narrator ask in unison.

“So we’ve established that you're a useless narrator serf then?” Miranda suggests with a butcher knife seemingly grabbed from thin air.

Narrator sighs forlornly. “Regrettably so.”

“Very well. Executioner serf, execute the useless narrator serf,” Miranda orders handing the butcher knife to a grizzly shark.

“Wait, wait, wait. What are you doing? Where did you guys even come from? You're not even in this class. Furthermore, that grey guy isn’t even your personal serf Miranda,” Amira intervenes as Oz continues to watch from the shadows.

“Narrator, not grey guy.”

“Right,” Amira finger guns. “...Your parents weren’t very good with names were they?”

“Shut up.”

“Gotcha.”

“I suppose you're right. Executioner serf you are dismissed,” Miranda waves sending the burly shark serf away. “In any case, where is that Oz fellow? If I’m not mistaken you two are in this class together are you not?”

Hearing Oz’s name Damien flinches but raises an ear.

“How do you know that?”

Miranda flips her hair with a pleased smile. “Of course you wouldn’t expect me to remember peasants like you. But, Oz has helped me throughout the year so he is one of many that are lucky enough to be remembered.”

“...Well, he’s actually right here-” Amira turns to where Oz should be but stops when she doesn’t see him. “Where in the heck did he-?” Looking down at her shadow, Amira spots two white eyes staring up at her. “Oh.” Grabbing at the shadow before he sinks lower, she yanks Oz out with one fluid arm movement, placing him upright beside her. “Right here.”

Awkward silence washes over the group as Oz struggles to recover from the embarrassment of being yanked out of a shadow. Amira watches him in amusement.

“H-hi,” Oz says awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Damien.

“Hey bro! What were you doing in there?” Scott asks genuinely curious.

“Yes, what were you doing?” Miranda asks, joining in with Scott and his curiosity.

“O-oh, I-I was j-just-”

“Hiding from me?” Damien suggests making direct eye contact with Oz.

Oz’s eyes grow wide and a heavy white blush covers his face. “What?! N-no! I-I j-just didn’t f-feel like, uh,” he stuttered trying to find the right words to fit his excuse. “I-I just didn’t w-want to d-disrupt y-your guys’ c-conversation!”

“Yeah right. With that pathetic fucking excuse for a confession on prom night, there’s no way this has nothing to do with it,” Damien scoffed clicking his tongue.

Oz’s heart sank. Was it that bad?

“What the fuck Damien!? What is your goddamn problem?!” Amira shouts furiously. “Was this why Oz refused to tell us why he wasn’t at prom?” Oz flinched at this. “Huh? You little shit! Why don’t I give you a piece of my mind!” Amira lights her hands in flames menacingly.

“Oh yeah, flame bitch?! Come at me!”

The two start brawling in the middle of the classroom, heavily damaging anything that got in their way. Whether it be chairs, desks, or a fellow student, nothing was left undamaged.

“We should let them handle this bro,” Scott insists, holding Oz’s shoulder.

“Yes, these two will eventually stop. Come now Oz, let us do what Cal calls ‘an act of kindness’ and reassure you that everything is alright,” Miranda smiles confidently. “Reassuring serf, reassure my friend Oz.” An angelfish floats/swims over to Oz and pats him on the head.

“...Thank you,” Oz smiles softly.

At this, the serf floats/swims away.

---

Skipping next period, Oz drags both Amira and Damien to the nurse's office. It's empty as usual but Oz is efficient enough at dealing with scrapes and bruises after a brawl thanks to Amira’s and Vicky’s recklessness.

“What were you thinking,” Oz asks disapprovingly while dabbing hydrogen peroxide with a q-tip on Amira’s scrapes. His phobias proceed to shake their heads.

“Exactly what I should be,” Amira retorts but winces a bit from the pain. “And why did you bring him?! You should have just left him there.”

Damien grunts looking away from the two. “Yeah,” he mumbled too quiet to hear.

“I’m not just going to leave someone who’s hurt. It goes against my ethics.” Oz grabs a large bandaid and slaps it hard on the wound.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“For being reckless,” Oz affirms. “Your turn.” He turns to face Damien who’s still facing the wall. “If you don’t want to face me then don’t. But, I’m still treating you whether you like it or not.”

“Hmph,” Although his response sounded irritated, he held out his injured arm obediently. Oz took a second to stare at the outstretched arm a bit shocked at Damien’s obedience before moving closer to treat it.

Amira quietly observing the two, smiles to herself.

“I’m gonna get going, don’t want to miss class!” Amira shouts as she proceeds to exit the nurse’s office door.

“What? But you never cared about-” Before Oz could protest, Amira had already left the room. “What changed her mind?”

Turning back to the red demon he was taking care of, Oz realized he was alone with him. All alone. This made the poor embodiment of fear slightly panic, no, completely panic. He spent most of the week avoiding the demon yet he’s run into him more times than welcome. And now he’s alone with the one monster he was trying to avoid.

“S-so, uh, w-was my c-confession t-that bad?”

Chapter Text

It’s hard to be emotional in a monster society where morals and ethics are so backward. But, it’s not like it completely vanished, it just isn’t used very much. When it comes to deep, meaningful words, they just aren’t easy to find. It’s much easier to say something than to mean something. “Sorry” and “I love you” are so overused that any emotions used to convey them are now dry and meaningless. Yes, you may want to apologize and feel guilty beyond words, but are you emotionally conveying what you want? It isn’t so easy to show someone that you care or that you need them here. So, in a world where massacres happen every other Friday night and chainsaws are sold at gas stations, where do you even begin to show emotions? You don’t. And, Damien knows this from the bottom of his heart. Even more so when it comes to love.

Everyone that knows Damien or has even heard of him knows what kind of person he is. Rough, boisterous, wild, dangerous, a pyromaniac, some even know him as the school’s drag queen. And, it’s all true. There isn’t a single lie among them. Yet, a much more widely known version of him is lustful. Sleeping around, having one-night stands every so often. This side of him is what attracts people to him. It’s what makes him the bad boy he is. Or, so everyone believes. This side of him is the side Damien detests the most. Although he enjoys meeting people and having fun once and a while, it did start to make him anxious. Living with two dads with such a perfect love story and happily ever after made Damien scared to mess up. He didn’t want to give his heart to someone who’d just throw it away after a taste. He was desperate to find someone just for himself. But, he was also impatient. The thought that he might never meet this person worried him. Damien even tried putting an end to his one-night stands. Although, it didn’t last long as his partners always convinced him one way or another.

His worries practically skyrocketed in his sophomore year. That was until he met Oz. They had already met as freshmen when Scott introduced them along with Vicky and Brian. At first glance, Oz is timid, quiet, and shy. Not exactly Damien’s type of person. But, despite looking like such a person, Oz was very adamant about his beliefs and didn’t back down unless proven wrong. Oz’s Phobias might have been even more stubborn than he was. Damien and Oz butted heads a lot throughout freshman year even on the littlest of things.

Starting sophomore year though, their relationship changed. Over the summer, Oz and Damien met at a bar called Spooky. Damien was getting drop-dead drunk on bomb fire beer and Oz was sipping on some dark black matter. At the time, Damien was so drunk he picked a fight with a group of policemen taking a break at the bar. One of them happened to be a lich and got Damien pinned to the ground in no time flat. Oz was just watching until he realized he recognized the demon.

“Coexisting with monsters is a lot harder than I thought,” Oz groaned, stirring his drink blankly. “But, you adapted pretty quickly, Sam.”

“Well, I was able to access the human’s memories so it was rather easy,” Sam hissed proudly cleaning the rim of a wine glass. “In any case,” He started, pointing to a group of monsters in a heated argument. “Do you think you could settle them down?”

“Hmm?” Oz swiveled the bar chair around. “Oh, sure-” Stopping mid-sentence, he squinted his eyes. Across the bar where the monsters were arguing, instead of seeing a group of drunken idiots, he saw armed police and one drunken idiot, Damien. Oz starred, unwilling to get between the law for someone he wasn’t close with. “Uh, maybe we should just let them handle this. I mean, they are the police.”

Sam lowered one of his many snakeheads. “That one right there, the red one,” Sam pointed towards Damien. “He’s a feisty drunk. Last time I let him be he destroyed half of the bar. Just, do me a favor as friends, okay?” Sam nudged Oz towards their direction, knocking Oz off the chair.

“Sam, I don’t think-”

“Bye~! Thanks for helping!” Sam waved.

“...”

“Bye~!”

Oz sighed, walking towards the group.

“Hey, why don’t you calm down before we’re forced to detain you,” One of the police officers warns with one hand distancing himself from Damien and one on the taser. The police officer was a piece of enchanted armor dressed in a police uniform. His tone was rather cheery despite the situation. “And, we wouldn’t want that on your behavior record right?”

“*hic* Fuck my beha- *hic* -vior record. I’ve *hic* already burned that shit anyway!” Damien yelled, pointing a middle finger at the cops. “So you can go *hic* stick it up your *hic* enchanted asshole!”

“Mr. LaVey, please keep your composure. If possible I would like to handle this peacefully,” The enchanted armor continued ignoring Damien’s snarky remark.

Damien took a knife from his pocket and unlatched it. “Eat shit!” Before Damien could throw the knife, he fell into his shadow, plummeting into complete darkness. “Who *hic* turned off the *hic* fucking lights!?” Too drunk to comprehend what just happened and the eeriness of the void, continued to yell not even realizing the floor disappeared beneath him.

“God, would you stop that?” Oz huffed, appearing in the void. “How do you even have enough energy to be angry in this situation?”

“What do you *hic* want you fucking *hic* nerd?!”

“Where do you live?” Oz asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

“What? Why the *hic* fuck would I tell you that?”

“To take you home. Where do you live?”

“Hell.”

“Where in hell?”

“Castle.”

“Which castle in which circle of hell?”

“Best circle.”

“...Which is the best circle?”

“My circle.”

“...”

Suddenly, the void vanished welcoming Damien’s face to the concrete floor absolutely not due to Oz unwilling to play the guessing game any longer. A loud thump was heard as he collided with sweet, sweet gravity.

“FUCK!”

Oz and Damien were taken far in an alleyway. It was dark with the only light coming from the streets. The alleyway was littered with trash, one at every step taken. It was a cluttered mess with several items being miscellaneous, especially the oddly placed motion detector taped to the wall.

“Your friends with Vera right?” Oz asked, leaning in to help Damien up. “I don’t want to owe Vera a favor so I’ll let her find you here. According to Amira, she’s going to have one of her business deals here soon so when she finds you she’ll take you home.” Oz propped Damien up on the wall to keep the drunk standing. “Stay put, okay?”

Instead of getting a snarky answer, the alleyway explodes. No, there is no “just kidding.” It blew up almost leaving Oz and Damien as nothing but ashes. Holes were blown into the sides of the buildings leaving the people inside disoriented or severely injured. It was incredibly sudden but oddly expected knowing what kind of people Vera met on a daily.

“Shit! Are you sure she was in there?” A troll woman yelled, running up towards the alleyway. “We’ve got no second chances when it comes to that sly bitch!”

“It’ll be fine,” Replied another troll with a switch in hand. “The motion detector went off and why would anyone be around here?”

Oz whipped dust off his face from the smoke and debris of the explosion. He had safely shadow jumped himself and Damien far from the alleyway. However, Damien was knocked out. When Oz pulled Damien from the wall and into a shadow, his head leaned backward in response to the strong force conking him out.

“I suppose a quiet Damien is better than a loud one,” Oz sighed, laying him down on the concrete.

“Dan, she wasn’t there!” The female troll wails with her hands pointing at the rubble. “Not a piece of her insight!”

“Impossible, it went off! You heard it!” The other troll argued pointing to the motion detector taped to the wall. “I know you heard it!”

“It could have been a damn mouse!”

“Movement that small wouldn’t have been picked up!”

“Uh, e-excuse me?” Oz politely said with a tiny wave. “W-we might have been the ones to set off the detector.”

The two trolls turned to him.

“You? How did you get out then?” One of them asked, stepping backward.

“Oh, well it's easy if you can, um, teleport? I suppose it is a form of teleportation.” Oz touches his chin nodding to himself.

“Was Vera Oberlin with you?”

Oz shakes his head. “I know Vera can take care of herself but I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t set traps for my friend. She can be good when she wants.”

“HA! I doubt that. Get lost now, we have to set the trap up all over again,” A troll huffed picking through the rubble. “It’ll be nearly impossible now though,” they mumbled.

“And what happened here?” A voice hisses.

Oz and the trolls turn to see Vera standing with her bodyguards standing as smug as always.

“I hope my ‘trusted’ business partners haven’t done anything rude now.”

“R-rude? N-no! N-never!” A troll flusteredly denies pooling with sweat. “Y-you c-can trust us!”

“Hmm,” Vera hummed, amused by the current situation. “It wasn’t a question. I already knew you had this in mind when we started. I wouldn’t have wasted my time with you this long if I wasn’t waiting for a moment like this beforehand.” Vera turned to Oz glancing at the knocked-out Damien behind him. “Maybe I can even sue you for Lèse-majesté against the prince of hell.”

“W-why would we ever-” One of the tolls try in a desperate hope of getting away with their obvious attempt at Vera’s life. “I mean, y-you’re Vera Oberlin!”

Vera sighed in disappointment. “It’s because I’m Vera Oberlin I expected this to happen you idiotic short stacks.”

“WHY YOU-”

“Detained them. It’s irritating to have to deal with situations this often. I’m disappointed this wasn’t as fun as I hoped.” Vera snapped her fingers, sending her two bodyguards running towards the trolls.

“Unhand me!”

“Take them away, NOW,” Vera orders impatiently. At this order, the bodyguards immediately run off with the two to lock them up. Knowing Vera, somewhere they will never be found.

“Oz,” Vera said, turning to Oz who was just standing while watching the whole thing unfold. “I suppose I owe you a favor now for setting off the trap for me. Although I hate owing someone; what do you want?”

“Uh, could you take Damien home?” Oz asked with a tilted head. “I-I don’t really know which circle of hell he lives in a-and he’s uncooperative.”

“Good, it's an easy request. Then I’ll be off with him,” Vera strides over to Damien and lofts him over her shoulder. “Assuming that is all?”

“Y-yes, thank you,” Oz said smiling with his eyes.

“Right, have a night Oz.”

“A night?”

“I can’t promise you’ll have a good one. So you will have a night unless the sun decides otherwise.”

“O-oh, right. W-well I hope you have a, um, a ‘night’ as well.” Oz sputters, a bit confused by the new phrase.

“Yes, farewell.”

---

The next morning, Damien awoke in his bed. Although confused because he never remembered coming home, he shrugged it off as one of his dads finding him passed out on the streets. However, at breakfast, he was told that Vera took him home. If anyone else but his dads told Damien this he would have stabbed them then called them out for bullshit. Vera doesn’t do “nice” she does business. And according to her, anything nice is always free and she didn’t like free because it was just another word for invisible debt. So, Damien asked Vera why she brought him home last night without asking for anything in return. She answered saying she owed Oz a favor and wouldn't explain any further than that, she couldn’t be bothered. Oz and Damien at the time were still not on the best terms so it didn’t make him any less confused.

“Why would the dumbass bother with me?”

“Damien, get the fuck off the table,” Vera said with a twitching frown. “I could not care less nor will I try to find out. Leave.”

There were several times after where Damien would find himself always getting saved by Oz in his sophomore year. Whether it was because he got drunk or because he didn’t need to be drunk to be outrageously reckless, Damien always found himself being pulled out of situations by pitch-black arms with awkward stuttering. There were even times Oz would join Damien or the roles would switch when Oz lost patience. By junior year, without even realizing it, they had become weirdly close. And by senior, well, they might as well have been as close as any best friend. They trusted each other and counted on each other even more than with their usual friends.

It isn’t impossible to imagine Oz feeling something more than friendship when together. It wasn’t unexpected. In fact, Damien should have seen it coming. He wasn’t so stupid that he couldn’t see the signs or the tiny hints Oz gave accidentally. Damien was even thinking about giving him a chance. But, feelings are complicated, hard to understand. And for Damien, he couldn’t tell between left and right.

Chapter Text

“S-so, uh, w-was my c-confession t-that bad?” Oz asked even though he was anxious about what response he could receive. “I-I mean y-you seemed really, um, vocal about hating it.”

“...If I liked it, we would be doing something different right now,” Damien huffed with his back facing Oz.

“Huh? O-oh! Y-yeah, I-I guess so,” Oz blushed white and chuckled awkwardly. “S-sorry, I guess that was a stupid question.” Oz rubbed the back of his neck trying to compose himself. “Umm… S-so, I-I’m trying to make conversation but-”

“But you suck, admit that fuckin’ suck Oz,” Damien said rather candid.

“...I-I never said I was good at it but silence is painful so,” Oz sighed, strapping another bandaid on Damien’s arm. “T-talk to me. I-I know I’ve been avoiding you for the past week but I’m begging you. I can’t stand awkward silence like this.”

“Fuck off, talking to you would be a waste of time.”

“That’s the point, Damien!” Oz yells as his Phobias open their mouths in unison. “Waste my time! I need something to fill the silence! Anything would do. Please.”

“...A rhinoceros with buff arms dressed in drag would be fuckin’ metal.”

“Wha-,” Oz was taken aback by the randomness of the statement. “I guess it would? Why? Did you see one?” Although the topic was strange, Oz was still curious whether or not something like that was walking around the school campus. It wasn’t completely off the table considering the shit show that is Spooky High.

“Fuck!” Damien shouted as if a light bulb clicked in his head, completely ignoring Oz’s question. He turned to face Oz, brightened with inspiration. “There was a statue of a politician being devoured by a badass rhinoceros covered in tattoos in front of the Fuck You association! I could just dress it up in drag!”

“U-uh,” Scooched back away from the overly excited demon. “I had no idea an association like that existed but I don’t think they’d just let you use it.”

“Who said I was gonna ask?!” Damien chuckled with a dangerous look in his eyes.

“Oh,” Oz should have known better than to think Damien would ask for anything ever. If anything, the longest conversation he had with someone who had something he wanted was just fire and more fire. “Right, well have fun then?” Oz says after putting the last bandage on Damien’s fist which was bruised up after missing a hit to Amira and coming in contact with the wall.

As Oz placed the last one, Damien smirked and rushed out the door. But, he stopped at the door and turned to face Oz.

“See ya fuck face,” He smirked cockily obviously thrilled about his new idea. “And...,” Damien paused and blushed, embarrassed. “Thanks,” He said swiftly before jetting.

---

Oz was still thinking about what happened in the nurse’s office as he floated around in the void waiting for the seventh period to end. Damien "thanked" Oz. Even though they’ve known each other since freshman year, all they ever did was get into and out of trouble. Oz saved their reckless asses several times but Damien never thanked him. Damien’s way of thanking someone was usually just not stabbing you. It was like, “Hey, thanks a lot! I’ll make sure to stab someone else when I’m having a tantrum!” But, this time, it was an actual, verbal “thank you.”

This was dangerous. Oz, although very close, still wasn’t over Damien. And that, an embarrassed, Damien was fucking adorable. It wasn’t fair. Oz was rolling around trying to contain himself while Damien had no idea what kind of effect he had on the poor embodiment of fear.

“F̸̯̯̱̓̆̆͂̊ů̸͕̪͓̖̲̫̤̦̰̠͈̓̔č̴̻͔̦̟͈̬̞̀̇͛͌͋̔̕͜ḱ̴̗͎̱̘̺̲̜̞̀̍̓́̉͆̾͌͜͜ͅi̴̹̱̠̦̺̳͇͇͙̻̊͊͗̃̏̃͆̃͠͠ņ̷̦͕̙͍̻̤̹̞͇̰̩̔̃͊̀̎̌̓̕͝͠ͅģ̴̛͙͍̳̝̀̽̃̾̿̄̓̔ ̸̛̞̖̦̏͋̍̓̏̔̔͛̍̌̀Ḍ̶̡̀̀͑̄̕a̶̡͚̲̟͛̓͗͂̔m̸̟̲̮̦̺̱̪̤̎͐̄͘ȋ̶͙̟̬̜͕̼̟̬͚̽̏̾̊̆̃ę̶͕͙̻̮͍̰̰͎̉͗̾ņ̷̪͉̂̎̒͛͊͜,” Oz groaned in his real voice, with his jarring jaw wide open and crazed.

No matter what Oz told himself, no matter how many times he said he was over it, it always came clawing back at him. He wanted Damien. And it wasn’t in a sexual way, it was in a possessive way. After trillions of years without any type of emotional attachments, Oz had no idea what love was like. There were even times when he questioned whether or not he loved Damien. However, he always came back to the same conclusion, Damien drove Oz crazy. But, the times when they fucked around and just went wild were Oz’s most treasured moments. Maybe it was because Oz never needed anything, but he got greedy when it came to Damien. That may have been why Oz didn’t get as depressed when he was rejected. He just knew that if he wanted to, Damien would have already been his.

As dark as the thought was, Oz wasn’t as soft as most people thought. It’s not that he faked being nice and calm. Those parts of him were also true. But, Oz always had two parts of him that made him whole. He had his infuriating anxiety and he had his older side. The side that stayed with him, started with him, the one that made him the embodiment of fear.

The two sides never got in the way of the other. After all, he feeds on people’s fear, sometimes killing them in the process. It wouldn’t make sense that someone soft would ever agree to do this every week. Ever since he decided to join society, he was always anxious, it was the first emotion he ever felt. And, sometimes, his darker side would come out. No, it's not like all of a sudden he just goes from, “L-let’s not,” to “I will kill your whole family.” That’s not how it works. Just like how you escalate from calm to angry, it's the same but a little more drastic.

The only ones who got to see this side of him were his friends and Damien. But, Oz never showed Damien his possessive side. He wanted to keep that locked in fear that it would drive Damien away. So in truth, the only ones who knew the whole Oz were the color gang.

---

“Crud! Oz, could you throw me a spine!” Vicky shouted, yanking the axe out of the massacred body as blood splattered on her face. “I crushed mine again!”

“Vicky, that’s the twelfth one,” Oz sighed, wiping blood off his face with corpses littered around his feet. Blood soaked his hands after ripping them apart. Oz learned that manhandling neutered more fear than weapons, making his meals more delicious.

“Yeah~ but I promised Scott!” Vicky whined, arching her head back. “Please~! For me?”

“Pft, don’t give it to her Oz! If she can’t do it herself then it's not heartfelt!” Amira smirked, burning her own pile of corpses. “God, look at this one,” Amira picked up one of the heads that she lobbed off. “I should put his head on a stake for being such an idiot.”

“Don’t,” Brian hissed, ripping an arm off a corpse. “We don’t want anyone else finding out about our hunting spot. It’s too good to be shared with others.”

Every month, late at night, the color gang gets together and goes “hunting.” The same kind of hunting Oz does but together as a group. Dressed up in dark clothing and equipped with their chosen weapon or none at all, they head to a certain forest where the human city and the monster city connect. Many naive humans come to the forest to see a real-life monster or like the slayer, try to bring “justice” down upon the monster race. If anything, calling someone a slayer is just a more noble way of calling someone racist. There were also those who try to “debunk” the rumors that the forest is haunted. And, there was nothing to debunk in the first place. It isn’t hunted unless Polly decides to throw a party here. Instead, it was just a group of high school monsters taking advantage of the unfortunate souls who decide to hike late at night when hunting day rolls around.

“Fine~,” Amira chuckles, burning the head to a crisp. As the ashes of the disembodied head floated to the ground, a glow caught her eye. “Oh shit! I found one!” Amira bent down to grab a glowing stone clenched between the cold hands of one of the corpses. It was illuminated in a warm red glow, radiant yet soft. “Something like this shouldn’t be in a human’s hands. Why do they even bother to keep it if they can’t use it?”

“Curiosity?” Vicky suggests, still trying to carefully pluck a spine from one of the corpses. “I’d be pretty curious too if I didn’t know what it was.”

“Dijin stones?” Oz asked. “I assumed everyone knew about them, human or not.”

“It’s been thousands of years since a dijin stone was used,” Brian stated, examining the arm he ripped off. “I doubt even many monsters still remember that they exist. I only still know because Amira won’t shut up about them all being taken to the human cities.”

“Fuck off Brian! Imagine getting your zombie dick cut off and kept as a souvenir in a human household. That’s how I feel about dijin stones.”

“Haha, are you saying the dijin stone you're holding right now is your dick?” Vicky smiles, amused.

“Might as well be,” Amira shrugged, shoving the stone in her pocket.

Brian just shook his head and kept looking for body parts that hadn’t rotted yet.

“Guys, I might head deeper into the woods to see if they’re any humans left,” Oz says, opening his gaping mouth to lick where his lips would be. “I’m not quite finished yet.”

“Sure, sure! Just share some of the loot if you find anything!” Vicky smiles. “Don’t eat too much or you might get fat!”

Although Oz was certain he couldn’t get fat, he nodded anyway and vanished into the woods. He smelled something delicious earlier but couldn’t quite pinpoint it until now. Only on hunting days could Oz let loose and devour as much as he wanted. There were times he thought about inviting Zoe since she probably hasn’t let loose in a while too but, Oz quite enjoyed having a place just for the four of them.

Tracing the fear he sensed, Oz finds himself practically drooling from the mouth the closer he gets. So much so that he caught himself opening his mouth subconsciously wanting so early to eat whatever was emitting such an amazing amount of fear. It was hardly bearable trying to keep himself in control.

At the end of the trail, Oz almost lost his mind. The fear was so strong now it was impossible to hold back any longer. But, Oz was experienced enough to keep himself from lunging at the source like an animal. Instead, he crept between the trees to get a better look at what was so scared it attracted the embodiment of fear from such a far distance. It was Milo and what seemed to be a tall and lanky girl with hair that stretched to her knees dressed in a pizza delivery uniform. It was neither of these people though that were creating the fear. Instead, it was a group of children huddled in between the two scared shitless. Oz had a very strong dislike of scaring children. Adults and stupid teens were fine but children just seemed wrong. Even though their fear had Oz hungrier than ever, he should have known it was children and calmed himself down.

“Hey, did you kids order the pizza or not?” The pizza delivery girl asked impatiently. “Quit your shaking and tell me if you or this one did.”

“I wouldn’t order a pizza in the middle of the forest and I doubt anyone else would either,” Milo raised an eyebrow. “How did you even get here?”

“Don’t ask difficult questions, just tell me or pay for the pizza.”

The children were still shaking as Milo and the pizza delivery girl continued to argue about where and to who the pizza belonged.

“An extra-large half pepperoni half mushroom with extra cheese, did you not order this?”

“Darling, exactly how many times must I tell you that you most likely got lost. I mean for god's sake one of your eyes is covered by your bangs!” Milo sighs. “I respect style preference but try to at least keep it from obscuring your vision so poorly you mistake a forest for a neighborhood.”

“Dang it, I don’t want to have to lower the price because I was late,” The pizza girl groaned. “You know anyone who’d pay for a pizza they never ordered?”

“Why would I-”

“M-milo?” Oz called out after finally calming his dreading craving for the children’s fear. “W-what are you d-doing here?”

“Oz? I feel like I should be asking you that,” Milo turned to face Oz wide-eyed. “I suppose we met a lot in the forests. It's nice to meet a fellow nature lover.”

“Y-yeah, it's great to see you too,” Oz smiled with his eyes.

“Okay, ‘Oz,’ are you going to pay for the pizza? I’ll make it 1% off just for you.”

“Huh? Oh, I guess I am a bit hungry. Sure, I’ll take it off your hands,” Oz pulled his wallet from the void.

The pizza girl smiled with her grin reaching her ears. “Great, that’ll be $XX.”

As Oz handed the money to her, she swiftly counted the money and thanked him before leaving. Without the three of them knowing, the children had scrambled off during the transaction to Oz’s relief.

“I hate to ask, but exactly how are you going to eat without a mouth?” MIlo asked genuinely curious.

“I-I have a mouth it’s just that I don’t really need it so I close it off.”

“Will you be able to finish such a large amount by yourself?”

“No,” Oz chuckled, looking down at the large pizza in his hands. “But, I have some friends that might be able to for me.”

“The blobs on your shoulders?” Milo pointed to Oz’s Phobias who were desperate to taste the pizza.

“Them and others I know,” Oz says, wondering if he should invite others besides his usual friend group. “Would you like to join us in trying to finish it? You don’t have to eat if you don’t want to but just to hang out.”

“A very tempting offer but I have some things I have to get done before morning,” Milo nodded, thanking Oz. “Then I’ll be off. Have a darling night Oz.”

“Yes, have a good night,” Oz gave a small wave as Milo opened a portal to the afterlife. “Then, I should head back. And, I guess this suffices for loot.”

Chapter Text

The color gang planned to celebrate the end of the school year with a hunt and a party. The hunt was just as usual with the exception of Oz’s run-in with Milo. In past months, they had always enjoyed collecting the belongings of humans who happened to wander on the border. Of course, when they first started, they were caught by the police rather quickly and spent a couple of days in jail before escaping. However, ever since the police found out about the group's hunting, they made a deal saying they wouldn’t do anything about it since it made their jobs easier. After all, by killing the humans who came, it scared most of the daring humans away and the police didn’t have to make rounds ensuring they stayed on their side of the border. It's questionable why these police officers haven’t lost their jobs yet but we should all know better than to ask questions.

The party was going to be like any other end-of-the-year party. Crazy, drunk, fucked up, and horny. The color gang set up the party along with Polly to make the most crocodile throwing, ass banging party in all of Spooky High. It’s only fitting to end the school year this way.

“Oz! Where the hell did you go?” Vicky whined, sprinting towards Oz still drenched in blood. “You were gone for so long we thought you were feeding on a mental hospital or something! Oh! And is that pizza?!” Vicky asks enthusiastically, excited at the sight of the delicious, greasy circle of carbs.

“I’m not sure why you would think there would be a mental hospital in a forest, much less this one,” Oz sighs affectionately. “And yes, this is a pizza.”

“A mental hospital would make more sense than a pizza place,” Brian says looking at the pizza over Vicky's shoulder questionably. “Did this grow out of the ground or something?”

“Fuck! Who the hell cares!”Amira shouts, snatching the pizza out of Oz’s hands. “It's pizza!”

Oz turns to Brian and shakes his head. “A friend gave it to me.”

“...Okay that literally doesn’t clear anything up and if you think it does it doesn’t.”

“Hmm, I dunno, it makes sense to me,” Vicky shrugs.

“Wha- how?!”

“There’s this pizza girl who just goes around making people pay for pizzas in forests. I ran into her once. She’s pretty cool!” Vicky smiles, covering one side of her face with hair and changing her facial expression to look exaggeratedly gloomy. “She had one of her eyes covered and looked sleep-deprived. Oh! And her hair was super long!”

“That’s the one I ran into,” Oz nods his head. “She was really nice.”

Brian just stares at the two dumbfounded as Amira laughs chaotically while frolicking with the pizza box in hand.

“The hell are you idiots doing?!” Amira yells, stopping her frolicking to wave them over. “Let’s go!”

“The party doesn’t start until later!” Vicky yells, rushing towards Amira.

“Who cares! I meant the pizza!”

“Save room for the party!” Brian warned.

Amira rolled her eyes and huffed. “Yada, yada, now let’s gooo!”

---

The party was originally going to be just the four of them getting crazy somewhere downtown. Wreck some places with bad customer service, fuck over that one uber driver with a dog allergy, get high on tiramisu, it was going to be a shit show for a night. But, Polly wanted to throw an end-of-the-year party as expected. So, the color gang took the initiative and asked to help arrange things. While Polly handled the invites and music, Vicky and Amira handled the decorations as Brian and Oz made the food and drinks. Oz also called Sam to see if he would use his bartending at the party.

It was going to be held at an abandoned mall. Three stories tall smushed in an alleyway yet to be demolished till next month. Okay, so it's a fairly recent building. But, isn’t any old-looking empty building considered abandoned?

When Oz shadow jumped to the building, his body was immediately squashed between two walls so tight he could hardly breathe… if he had lungs. Thankfully he doesn’t and wiggles his way towards a door placed on the side of one of the walls. However, he was faced with another annoyance: he couldn’t open it. Not that it was locked. It was because the walls were so close that it barely opened at all. Oz looked up in exasperation at his situation. It was easy to just shadow jump inside but it was so comical he couldn’t help but laugh for a while. He also found it rather funny that others without his abilities would have to enter this way as well. It's no question that Polly most likely didn’t think about where the entrance would be and how accessible it was. Of course, people like Amira and Damien will probably just run a car through it or blow a hole in the wall. But, it was still hilarious to envision someone like Scott trying to power his way through whilst accidentally cracking the walls and breaking a hole anyway.

“She really didn’t think this through, did she?” Oz says to himself, chuckling. “Amira and Vicky went ahead already. I wonder how they got in?”

Oz’s body vanishes into a shadow, reappearing in the door’s shadow in a whirl of black liquid.

“Oz!” Vicky yells, running up to Oz. “Look! Isn’t it awesome?!”

Looking around, it's much more spacious on the inside than it looked on the outside. There were two elevators leading to the two other floors and a staircase leading to the next floor. The shops were shuttered up with some of them broken into used for drinks and snacks. Graffiti littered the walls and floors with one rare masterpiece which was completely ignored and covered over by other shitty signatures.

Cheap party tables were placed everywhere, lined with random party streamers and oddly personal quotes. Somewhat like the oddly specific greeting cards but these were a lot more personal with one even saying, “Red dick isn’t the only kind of dick” which weirdly rubbed Oz the wrong way which he doesn’t understand why.

“O-oh, you guys did good!” Oz says, trying to sound optimistic. “B-by the way, is that Polly?” Oz pointed to a floating figure dangling from her feet with a big target on her chest while a fiery djinn proceeds to play “hit the target” with Molotov cocktails.

“Yep! Looks fun doesn’t it?!” Vicky says cheerily. “Would you like to try?”

“N-no, I’m fine thanks,” Oz shakes his head rapidly while still trying to be polite about it. “I-I still need to place the food.”

“Oh yeah!” Vicky starts to point at various tables in quick succession. “That one, that one, that one, that one, and that one! You can place the food there.”

“Alright,” Oz nods, trying to remember which ones she pointed to.

“Where’s Brian by the way?” Vicky asks, peeking behind Oz.

“Brian? He decided to stay behind a little longer because coming early would be too ‘predictable’ or something.”

Vicky tilts her head. “Hmm… Oh!” Vicky’s eyes light up as a smirk crosses her face. “I see~.”

“Y-you do?”

“Yep! Anyway, I’m gonna join Amira and Polly before they set another table on fire. Cya!” Vicky waves, running off towards the ongoing chaos.

“A-another?”

It worried Oz that they had already done something and was on the verge of another but, what did he really expect? For them to behave? Unlikely.

Oz started walking to the closest table Vicky had pointed to. He started grabbing food from the void and placed them neatly around the table. Starting with the hefty homemade food to the convenience store chips. With the help of “How to” videos, Oz and Brian were able to bring food other than Lays™ and Doritos™. Sam also agreed to help and would come later to bring some special beverages.

“Okay, that should be all,” Oz sighs, feeling accomplished. He had visited each of the tables Vicky pointed to and filled up every single one with food. It was very satisfying to see them all done.

While Oz was finishing up his task, several monsters arrived at the party and had already started partying. Although it's a wonder how they got past the tight entrance, Oz was too busy arranging the plates to care. Polly and Amira stopped playing their odd game of “hit the target” and slayed the dancefloor with music and dance. Vera and Miranda were also with them but only stood and watched the two. Vicky was chatting with Scott and Zoe with Zoe mostly being there because she shipped the two and Vicky and Scott flirting with each other hardly even remembering Zoe was still there.

There were a few people who still weren’t here yet. Liam made sense since he likes to show up fashionably late and Brian saying he wanted to stay behind for a similar reason, but Damien still wasn’t here. Usually, he arrives somewhere in the middle and it's already pretty late into the party. It would be pretty hard to miss him since he’s practically allergic to “normal” and is addicted to fire and blowing things up. By now it would be normal to have three fires, one big hole, and one car accident being the cause of all. However, there has only been one fire, no holes, and no car accidents. Odd. Oz was tempted to search for him but if Damien planned on setting ants on fire then going to prom, then he might have made a similar decision for the party. Plus, Oz and Damien weren’t exactly on the best of terms for him to have any right to worry about him.

As Oz wandered the mall, he passed Juan the magical Latino cat and Sam talking about beverages and Calculester arguing with Blobert’s phone. Even the interdimensional prince was invited as he and Dimitri tried to seduce anyone who just happened to walk in front of them.

“Your eyes shine just as bright as the glow of your scales!” The interdimensional prince preaches with a hand on his heart.

Leonard was invited as well but he was imprisoned in a tiny box that was labeled, “Do not feed the asshole.” Fellow classmate was invited too as his usual joyous self. He used to be pretty good about not breaking any laws but it seems the peer pressure got to him.

“I suppose if vandalizing is considered a type of self-expression for high schoolers with anxiety it shouldn’t be a problem,” Fellow student says, a bit unsure of himself.

Dahlia and the Slayer were chucking crocodiles across the room from the top floors yelling words of dominance as the poor monster who got caught in their shenanigans was left with several limbs missing and crocodiles attached to every limb left.

The coven were rushing up the stairs to reach the two yelling out the wrongs of what they were doing only to get pelted by crocodiles.

“You villains! We shall see to it that-!” Joy yells pointing an accusing finger at them. “Agh! Wha-! How dare you throw that at me- gah!”

Valerie had set up her own booth with a growing crowd checking out her miscellaneous items. Oz was a bit worried that one of them might be like the Zygord totem Zoe came out of or the cursed floppy disc Cal formed from but he supposed that it was the end of the year anyway. This would be her last time opening shop.

“Heya! Come check them out before it's too late! Closing soon!” Valerie shouts.

Kale and the wolfpack seemed to be playing Pokeman Go. After they learned that Pokeman Go could also be used as a frisbee, (more like the phone can be used like a frisbee), Kale decided to teach them how to actually play the game.

“So then you just click here and swipe up to catch the human,” Kale instructs as the wolfpack watches in wonder over his shoulder.

Tate and Violet were up to their usual and flirted, albeit a bit one-sidedly with Tate only nodding his head.

“No, you are!” Violet squeals on top of Tate’s head making him shake his head blankly in what Oz assumes is him denying what “no you are” is referring to.

Watching his classmates enjoy the party, Oz starts to realize how much of an end they are reaching as the night grows darker. It's the end of the year, the end of high school for all the seniors. Oz and all his friends will never meet like this again. Party after midterms, ditch class, scam people on library computers, it's all going to be over after tonight. It’ll be weird. It’ll be new. But, it’ll be welcome. A new start, a new journey. Maybe, their journey has only just begun.

Chapter Text

When daybreak came, Oz found himself stolen of proper rest reminiscing in silence on his bed. The party was brisk with energy and with so many drunken monster teenagers, it only escalated towards even more madness. Oz had escaped a little before the party ended after Polly announced that they should drink till they drop... quite literally. She wanted nothing more than to turn at least one of them into another ghastly party ghost. Although he can’t die, Oz wasn’t really fond of the idea of clogging his void with booze and he trusted his mostly already dead friends to be able to handle themselves. However, once he returned home, he found himself wondering what would come after. What his next steps would be.

It's easy to lose yourself when you run blindfolded and Oz was running in whatever direction he was taken. Most of the time it was his friends who led him through this and that. Almost all of them were entirely shenanigans but were still decisions that Oz left up to others. That’s not to say Oz completely relies on those around him. It's more like he doesn’t know what he prefers to spend his time on. The only things he found most enjoyable was being with his friends or... Damien. These questions were ones that plagued not only Oz’s mind but others as well. They all didn’t know what they wanted yet, Oz having much more time to choose compared to others. The words, “You can be whatever you want,” are both encouraging and binding. Yes, if you wish to reach the stars you can and you may succeed. But, to reach the stars, you need a rocket. And, some do not know what kind of rocket they wish to take. They can use any rocket, any color, any company, and even make their own. That is not to say there will be no risks. The rocket may crash, not fly far enough, be too heavy, not be fueled enough, it could even combust because of incorrect construction. You will never know if the rocket you choose will take you to the stars or only explode in the atmosphere. Oz and everyone else didn’t know what rocket they wanted. They would only know if those chose right after the rocket launches.

However, as all ways, they were young and unafraid, and ready to start.

---

“I thought summer would be great,” Oz groaned, poking at one of his Phobias. “But, I’ve done nothing productive nor worth wasting my summer on.”

Three weeks had passed peacefully. There were no worries of sudden explosions destroying the gym, no constant dodging of so-called “pranks.” It was so undisturbed that it was troubling. Oz was so used to constant chaos and disarray that as days passed, he became restless. He found an urge to go out and do something but what would he do? A walk?

That’s when it hit him. Monster Camp! Immediately opening the void, Oz grabs at a small crumpled piece of paper that was hidden behind everything else. Upon thinking about a walk, Oz remembered his odd run-in with Counselor Flodge. Although he wasn’t very interested in learning about camouflage, the other activities packaged with it suited him very well. Oz was most likely going to spend the rest of his summer roaming in forests anyway, why not take a summer camp for it?

“Monster Camp huh?” Oz says to himself as he lays on the couch with the flyer above his head. “Should I ask the others to see if they’ll come too?”

Oz looked over to his Phobias for suggestions. They nodded excitedly.

Color Gang Group Chat

Oz: [Sent picture of flyer]

Oz: Are any of you interested in doing this with me?

Vicky: Whoa!

Vicky: Sure! Looks fun!

Oz: Great! I’m excited too :)

Amira: Where the hell did you even find that?

Amira: You even have a flyer and everything

Oz: Oh, someone named Counselor Flodge gave it to me when we met on a hike

Oz: He was really adamant about camouflage

Vicky: Oh! I think I’ve met him before!

Amira: What!?

Amira: So you’ve met not only some weird emo pizza girl but also some camouflage-obsessed guy?!

Amira: Who have you not met?

Vicky: The Rock

Amira: He doesn’t count! That’s a celebrity!

Oz: Are you coming Amira?

Amira: ...Yeah, sure why the heck not.

Oz: :)

Vicky: Where’s Brian? He should come too!

Brian: Right here

Vicky: You're coming with us!

Brian: I don’t have a choice?

Amira: Have you ever had a choice?

Brian: ...No

Amira: Then you know the answer

Vicky: Hooray! This’ll be fun! See you guys there!

Amira: Cya

Oz: We’ll have to put hunting on a hold because of this

Vicky: Aww that sucks. Oh well!

Vicky: Bye!

Oz: Goodbye

Brian: 👋

So it was settled. The entire gang would be there. It was a worry whether or not the camp was ready to accommodate them and their energy but that would be left for another day. For now, Oz was excited to be able to do something fun with all his friends besides their usual hunt or outings in the city.

The camp would start in three days lasting for two weeks. Even though it was very last minute, thankfully the camp wasn’t popular enough to have no more room for four more monsters. Oz was able to register all of them with no problem with each of them pitching in for the total price since it was pretty expensive.

“Alright, it's all done. Now we just have to pack everything they asked us to.”

This might actually prove to be the hardest part. The website said to pack all essentials. It was a pretty vague sentence but Oz supposed they did this on purpose since monster society is filled with so many races and types with different needs.

For the rest of the three days, Oz and the gang went looking for possible supplies they might need. They bought the basics like sleeping bags, warm clothes (with the exception of Oz and Amira), and etc. Vicky and Brian also got extra monster stitching supplies just in case one of their body parts detached. Amira just loaded up in fire-resistant/water-resistant swim caps and floaties. Oz didn’t need anything in particular since as the embodiment of fear he didn’t require much aside from fear. So, instead of going to buy something Oz just went on a hunting spree collecting fear in several canteens to eat from every now and then when his hunger got bad. It was hard to hold back from eating it right away but Oz was able to have some self-restraint.

As preparations were getting settled, the color gang with Oz as the only exception asked their dates if they wanted to come with. Oh? You didn’t know they had dates? Well after the party, everyone ended up making it official. At first many of them were just dating each other to fulfill their horny desires or for convenience. However, they ended up finding comfort and warmth in each other resulting in their lasting relationships even after high school.

When Amira asked Vera she gave a bit of a maybe answer. Vera started getting busy on a new project of hers which involved selling cocaine that was named Nipples. If you haven’t already guessed, the name was Polly’s idea which for some reason vera thought actually worked. But, it did end up working seeing as Vera’s put so much time into developing its production.

Vicky asked Scott and was greeted with a very enthusiastic response. Honestly, it was no surprise that he wanted to go seeing as it was an outdoor camp with what Scott perceived as fun activities. Vicky and him really share that happy-go-lucky never-ending energy vibe.

Liam gave a very hesitant “sure” when Brian asked. Outdoor activities and Liam don’t get along. As not only a vampire but a nerdy vampire, outdoor camping was like asking Amira to go surfing. It was possible but it wouldn’t be fun.

With that, the color gang and two-thirds of their lovers gave a definite answer in going.

“Should I take the tardigrade plushie or the competitive tarot cards?” Vicky asks.

“Okay, but like why does this matter?” Amira says, rolling her eyes. “You said the matter was urgent!”

“This is urgent!” Vicky argues indignantly. “How could you say it's not?”

Amira sighed, banging her head against Vicky’s bedroom wall.

At the moment the color gang was sitting in Vicky’s bedroom after being told that something urgent came up and she needed their advice. What they were not expecting was for Vicky to be having a very not so urgent problem which just so happened to be the predicament they were in now.

“I told you that you guys shouldn’t have come,” Brian shook his head disapprovingly. “I even told you what she was calling you guys over for.”

“Yeah but I just wanted to make sure! Right, Oz?” Amira retorted nervously, trying to justify her obvious embarrassment of not realizing earlier.

Oz nodded frantically in the same desperate way to try and convince Brian that they totally came because they were worried and not because they didn’t believe Brian just because he used a smiling emoji by accident.

“Guys! Which one!?” Vicky whined.

Amira squinted at the objects Vicky was holding. “Uh, the tarot cards. They seem more productive.”

“But wouldn’t the plushie be helpful when trying to fall asleep?” Oz suggested tilting his head.

“One vote for the plushie, one vote for the cards!” Vicky announced lifting the other object up when mentioned. “Brian! Be the tiebreaker! What’ll it be?” Vicky says interrogatively leaning towards Brian to exert even more pressure.

“The plushie,” Brian says almost immediately. “I don’t trust you with tarot cards especially after you tried to convince that one shopkeeper that he is destined for greatness if he lights his house on fire while dancing the macarena to Despacito.”

“Fair point,” Amira says in agreement.

“That was only once!” Vicky pouted, flailing her arms around. “Plus I was right wasn’t I? He became popular on Youtube and started trending as a meme. He even racked up money from all the ad revenue from the business that wanted to use him as an example of what they aren’t.”

“You were right but in the worst ways,” Oz says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Hmph,” Vicky sat down on her floor. “Whatever, I liked the tardigrade plushie more anyway.”

“Okay well while we're on the topic of useless things we’re bringing to camp, I’m kinda curious what the rest of you are bringing,” Amira says curiously.

“Just some Scott Snacks, canned brains, and some very strong insect repellent. I don’t want any of them eating at my flesh while I’m sleeping,” Brains says, seemingly trying his best to remember if he was bringing anything else.

“How strong?” Amira asks, raising a brow.

“Strong enough,” Brian shrugs.

“Well! I guess I’m bringing the tardigrade plush along with a coloring Hawaiian shirt and marshmarrows,” Vicky says cheerily.

“What’s a coloring Hawaiian shirt?” Oz asks genuinely curious.

“A Hawaiian shirt you can color!”

“Oh, I guess I should have guessed that.”

“What about you Amira?” Vicky asks while stuffing her tardigrade plush into her bag.

“Bladeblade, magma trekking boots, and shades on fire,” As she said this, Amira flipped some burning shades and cooly slid them on her face.

“How am I not surprised?” Brian sighs affectionately.

“Yep! That’s totally Amira!” Vicky giggles admiring the shades. “And Oz? Are you bringing anything?”

“Not much but just a really big crosswords book,” Oz says as he proceeds to take a ridiculously long book out of the void.

“Holy shit!” Amira said, taking off her shades. “Where did you even find something like this?!” She grabbed the book and had to hold it like an accordion.

Oz shrugged. “It was just at the store and I thought it would prove to be a good pass time.”

“Pass time?! How much fucking time are you planning to pass trying to fill out this monster of a crossword book?” Amira asked, completely dumbfounded. “There’s no way this is legit,” she mumbled to herself, astonished.

“I just thought we might have a lot of time to ourselves when all the activities are over,” Oz says, grabbing the accordion-like book out of Amira’s hands to throw it back into the void.

As the two of them continued to argue about the incredibly long 50 Pounds of Crosswords, time continued to fly as Monster Camp was already upon them. It would be a new chapter, a new adventure, and would inevitably be the beginning of what might be the longest two weeks of their lives.

Chapter Text

The forest was lush and full of overgrown vines latching onto rocks and thickets surrounding every inch of the place. The spots of sunshine rained from the gaps in the leaves, gently wrapping the woodland in warmth. The crumpling of sound which followed each step only added to the peacefulness. It was a serene and lovely moment that Oz considered to be short-lasting. Even so, exploring the camp’s forest was his favorite activity.

There was a yellow gate in front of the forest entry. It warned campers of the dangers that lie ahead. A useless sign. If anything the sign should have faced the forest warning them of its terrible fate with them here. God forbid the whole forest might no longer be here with a certain arsonist running around mad.

——

After packing for the trip to Monster Camp, Oz shadow jumped the group to a bus station that would take them to the camp. There wasn’t anything notable about the bus station. (Although it was in a very questionable area and you had to sign a covenant not to sue them.) The station seemed a bit run down and probably hadn’t been renovated in years. Even if something did happen, Oz would be able to save them. Still, it hardly gave him peace of mind.

Aboard the bus were a number of monsters. Many of them are very recognizable. Dahlia, Damien, Milo, the Slayer (also known as Aaravi after talking to her on the bus), Joy, and Calculester. There were also other monsters they had never met before like Sawyer, a quiet demon who was very popular but was oblivious to it. Abdu, a very chill mummy with the coolest fashion style and a knack for sculpting. Susanne, a very boisterous and lively storm elemental who also has a fear of ghosts. And finally, Noodles. The green jellyfish with a pine tree cap. He seems to be unaware of the danger he constantly faces and hates seagulls.

Amira and Vicky got along well with Susanne and Noodles. They spent most of the ride talking about what kind of activities they’d do once they got to camp and how many catastrophes they could make in two weeks.

“What about electrocuting the whole lake!” Susanne said, forming static between her fingers.

“I’m all up for that!” Vicky chimed in.

“I’ll probably get electrocuted too but okay!” Noodles said, wiggling his tentacles.

“Fuck no! No water!” Amira said, affronted by the mention of a large body of water. “No fucking water!”

Sawyer and Oz also got along pretty well since both of them were so quiet. They spent most of their time by themselves just enjoying each other's company. O

Brian and Abdu just sat silently in the back with Brian sleeping and Abdu just eating Slays™.

Despite all the racket from the back of the bus, Oz happened to overhear a conversation from the people in front of him.

“Hey Jen,” One of the people in the front whispered. “Did you hear about the meteor shower that’s happening at the end of camp?”

A meteor shower? Oz wondered.

“Yeah, I heard it’ll be pretty bright too,” The other person replied. “Wanna bet to see who can stare at it the longest?”

“Hell yeah! And if I win you owe me a dinner date!”

“A-a date?”

“What? You scared?” A flirtatious click in their voice.

“N-no I—”

Before it got personal Oz decided to butt out. He wasn’t really into the idea of knowing the love lives of others.

A meteor shower, He thought to himself again. I guess even in my long life, I’ve never bothered to look up at the sky to see one.

——

By the time the bus had stopped at the camp, monsters started getting off and stretching after such a long ride. The camp was huge, housing two large buildings and even a dome. Complete with a haunted mansion, lake, scout HQ, and a fighting dome. Everyone was excited to get on with the activities and explore. The counselors, mostly just Counselor Flodge, said to explore the place a bit and then come back at night to the campfire. Apparently, camp activities didn’t start until tomorrow.

Counselor Flodge recognized Oz almost immediately and ran over to him. He handed Oz a bucket of “professional” *cough* another word for homemade *cough* camouflage gear saying to come to the Scout HQ for lessons. Quickly after, Counselor Flodge dashed back towards another camper to advertise, aka force them, into learning “The Arts Of Camouflage!”

Oz just stashed the bucket into his Void to eventually be forgotten and left there to rot.

With nothing much else to do, this led Oz to the forest. It was quiet and he enjoyed watching the forest swing in the wind and the relaxing sound of it. There was nothing quite like losing yourself to the gentleness of a forest. But there was one thing in the way of a completely quiet forest. In the distance, Oz spotted a martial arts cobra and an emo headless samurai duking it out anime-style with sudden flashbacks and unnecessary, weirdly intimate, remarks.

“Haha! As expected of my number one rival!” The cobra says punching the headless samurai’s sword which causes a gust of wind so strong it carves into the ground, again, anime style. “Chiyuuuuuu!”

“Sartttthhhh!” The headless samurai yells back.

Aren’t they just a copyrighted version of Naruto and Sasuke but if Naruto was the seme?

Sighing, Oz tries to move deeper into the forest looking for some quieter place. The woods were a lot bigger than he thought. It almost seemed as if it went on forever. After a while, Oz found a quiet place with a perfect clearing to rest.

But as all good things come to an end, Oz finds Milo and Damien looking around for something.

“Come out, come out wildfire!” Damien shouts, hands cupped around his mouth. “Where the fuck are you!”

“Calm down Damien,” Milo sighed. “All you have to do is get some gasoline and a lighter and Voilà! It’ll be done before you know it.”

“It isn’t a ‘wild’ fire if I’m the one who starts it! That’s a tamefire!” Damien argues as if it should have been obvious.

“I think you mean ‘arson.’”

As Oz continues watching their struggle to find what Damien thinks a wildfire is, he sinks into the shadows to try and pass them unnoticed. After all, even if he was somewhat over Damien’s incredibly harsh opinion of him, it’s still pretty hard to act as if nothing happened. Even with Milo there it would still be pretty awkward.

“Why don’t we just head back? I don’t think we’ll be able to find this, ‘wild’ fire.”

“Fuck, fine,” Damien groaned. He seemed to slouch away before stopping; looking frantically in every direction.

“What’s wrong?” Milo asked, trying to follow Damien’s eyes.

“Uh, not to say I’m lost but... let’s just say I can’t remember where the camp is!” Damien’s tail started to swing back and forth in a restless motion.

“Of course, one is not truly lost even when lost. For life is a roller coaster and being lost is just one of the many beautiful obstacles it brings,” Milo preached. But even with all those fancy words, the sweat dripping off his face convinced Oz they weren't as confident as they looked.

“Yeah, okay whatever,” Damien huffed, reaching into his pocket. “I’ll just use my compass to get us out of here.”

Oz and Milo sighed in relief… Oz too? Guess Oz was a little too immersed in their predicament. When exactly was he going to leave like he was supposed to? Actually better yet, was helping them out too good-natured of him?

“Thank god I lied,” Milo admitted. “No matter how beautiful life’s obstacles are, I still have yet to record my latest update of ‘Milo Rates Macaroni.’ I’d rather die than disappoint my fans.”

“What the fuck?!” Damien shouts, fucking around with the compass needle. “Why does it only point North?! The Camp is South!”

“What? Then how are we supposed to get back?” Milo asked, eyes turning orange. “And what will I tell my fans?!”

Milo and Damien started to encourage(?) the compass to point South by inspiring it with some life lessons and arson threats to its long-lost sister who left home because of abusive parents; how terribly sad.

Oz couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. Maybe he may never be as bright as Vera or Liam but he did know how a compass worked. Seeing them struggle with why it only points North was incredibly amusing. At this point, he might as well get some popcorn and see how long this shitshow plays out.

“This useless fucking compass! Point north goddamn it!” Damien’s rage seemed to be only mere inches away from breaking it or setting something aflame.

“Listen my dear compass, sometimes in life pointing South can lead to unimaginable success! Yes, the joys of your life might just start once you point South!” Milo said, still trying to convince the compass with life lessons. Perhaps they’ve never heard of inanimate objects. “If you point South I promise to mention you in my ‘Special Thanks’ at the end of every video.”

“Just point South or your stupid sister is a goner!” Damien threatened… Maybe not hearing of inanimate objects is common? “Listen to your master!”

As much as Oz wanted to continue watching, he couldn’t just leave them here. After all, Oz still owed Milo the free pizza.

Shoving down his absolute unpleasant feeling of having to see Damien, he walked out of the shadows. “H-hey uh, need some help?” Oz said, awkwardly poking his face out from behind a tree. A little distance from their unrequited crush never hurt anyone. “I-it sounded like you were lost so I figured…”

“Oh! Oz, what a relief,” Milo waved Oz over. “Would you be a dear and help us with convincing this terribly stubborn compass? Even after all our cheering it still refuses to point anywhere but North!”

Yes… “cheering,” Oz thought.

“That’s probably because a compass is supposed to only point North. A compass points towards Earth’s magnetic North so…” Oz scratched the back of his head. “It’s supposed to be that way.”

Damien and Milo stared at Oz, dumbfounded.

“What the fuck!” Damien yelled in disbelief. “Then what use is this piece of shit!” Damien raised the compass above his head and prepared to throw it against the floor.

“W-wait!” Oz shouted, swiftly coming out from behind the tree, stopping Damien before he could completely destroy it. “Y-you don’t have to destroy it! I’ll take you to camp but don’t destroy it.”

Milo stared at Oz, their eyes so clearly intrigued by Oz’s words.

“You can take us back to camp? Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place!” Milo said, delighted. “Show the way.”

“Oh uh, actually I was just gonna–”

“Teleport us there with your shadow thing right?” Damien interrupted, shoving the compass back in his pocket.

“Teleport?” Milo turned to Oz, perplexed. “You can teleport?”

“Yes?” Oz tilted his head. “I-is that odd to you?”

“Hmm, I suppose not,” Milo considered.

“Then what the hell are you waiting for? Let’s get this thing started,” Damien said.

“So, how does this work exactly?” Milo eyed Oz’s Phobias. “Do those lovely ‘things’ have anything to do with it?”

Oz and his Phobias gasped.

“Things?!” Oz said, aghast with wide eyes. “How could you say that?” Oz’s Phobias crossed their arms in clear offense. He looked at Milo in sad disappointment. “How are they ‘things?’”

“I-I meant no offense by it!” Milo quickly corrected. “In fact, they’re very cute and would make for a very creative mascot.”

“Mascot?” Oz frowned.

“I say that with utmost respect of course,” Milo sweated, struggling to get the point across. Milo couldn’t help but vomit every time they saw Oz’s face. It looked too much like a sad puppy used in thumbnails for pulling in empathetic viewership. “Mascots get quite a lot of popularity. Some even manage to gain themselves a horny fanbase!”

—

“...” Damien stared at Milo, severely unimpressed at their terrible attempt to make up for whatever they were making up for. Oz and Milo seemed to have a back and forth “argument.” If you could even call it that. Frankly, Damien only called it an argument because he couldn’t think of any other fancy-schmancy words that could fit their conversation. It was totally one-sided with Milo acting like he was charged guilty or something. Oz, the dork, just stood there nodding. A while ago, Oz just stopped getting angry with Milo and stood silently. He must’ve reconsidered his sudden burst of boldness.

Every few seconds or so, Damien noticed how Oz would look around. They had even made eye contact before Oz jolted his head back around. He found it increasingly hard to ignore how awkwardly Oz was standing there.

“Okay, okay, shut up!” Damien huffed. “How much longer are we gonna have to stay here? I thought you had some stupid video to record.”

“Oh my god, that’s right!” Milo said, brushing his hair back. “How could I have forgotten! Quick, Oz, take us to camp immediately!”

“R-right!” Oz replied, nodding sharply. “C-could you guys standover that shadow over there?” He pointed over to an area underneath a grove of trees.

Damien walked over without question; he had already done this before so he knew what was going to happen. Milo, on the other hand, followed slowly after Damien quizzically.

Oz joined them and… pushed them.

“Huh?” Milo watched in bewilderment as Damien’s body vanished into the shadows as Oz pushed him down. “Excuse me, but what are we–?”

Oz cut him off and pushed him down. It earned him half of a yelp which was also cut off when Milo sank into the shadows. He did feel a little bad for doing that but it was better than having to explain everything. If anyone had any shorter way of explaining shadow jumping, DM him because no one will ever understand how much that would mean to him.

—

The three of them popped up right in front of the gate which separated the camp from the forest. When they had arrived, everyone was already sitting around a campfire. Juan was floating around passing strange beverages to everyone. Vicky and Amira seemed to have already taken one of Juan’s drinks and were downing them together with Polly and Susanne. Brian and Abdu were watching the chaotic group from afar with their own odd glasses of alcohol. Sawyer was surrounded by a group of monsters who seemed incredibly infatuated with them. But Sawyer had an equal, if not greater, infatuation with the drink they were holding since Sawyer didn’t even notice as the crowd around her grew ever bigger. Noodles… well, was being picked apart by a group of seagulls. It seems that his fear of seagulls was truly valid.

“A-alright we’re here,” Oz said.

“Fucking finally!” Damien said, stretching his arms above his head. “It felt like we were in that damn forest for a hundred years!”

Milo’s eyes were wide with astonishment.

“Amazing… we got here so fast,” Milo muttered. “Since,” They turned toward Oz. “Since when have you been able to do this?”

“Forever really,” Oz nodded shyly. “T-there might have been a time when I didn’t b-but I don’t remember.”

Maybe Oz was a bit of an attention whore but he always enjoyed it when others got shocked by his shadow jumping. He had a very surprising pride in it even if he never showed it. So, whenever he met someone new who’d never met him before, it was always a treat to see their reactions.

“Life truly is full of wonder isn’t it!” Milo’s eyes lit up, clasping their hands together. “Perhaps I should steal you away, Oz. Maybe then I could truly take my wonderful viewers on a Journey called Life!’”

“Wow, you’re so fucking naturesexual,” Damien sneered, sauntering off. “Now fuck off I got some totally not-a-noob style campfire skills to show off.”

Just from that alone Oz had a sneaking suspicion that what he said was just another way of saying “I’m gonna go fuck with fire.”

“I bid you adieu my darling Oz,” Milo smiled. “I’ll be off to get Scott to help me with the macaroni testing. I’ve learned from experience that doing collabs with others makes it less likely that I actually have to eat any of it. Some of the flavors are rather… dubious.”

“Oh, u-uh glad to help!” Oz said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It wasn’t much, r-really.”

“Then I’ll see you when you decide to join us,” Milo waved as they walked off to join the others by the campfire.

Oz waved back and smiled with his eyes.

Damien was here the whole time yet it hardly bothered me, Oz thought, grasping the sudden realization. Maybe…! Oz’s shoulders grew light and a compelling feeling washed over him. But they fell back down, he bit his lip, subconsciously suppressing it. No, it was probably just Milo’s presence that distracted me.

Oz will likely never remember what happened, the feeling of unrestraint that washed over him. Time is fleeting and short especially for those of immortal life like Oz. The memories of today may even be left in shards of nothing but his interrupted stroll and the sounds of wind by the next morning. But that weight which was lifted ever so slightly today will only grow lighter, and lighter until there is nothing left. Nothing left which ties him down to…

Chapter Text

There were a lot of monsters gathered around the campfire. Some were situated comfortably in their tents while others sat on logs surrounding the fire. Was it safe? Probably not. Are the logs flammable? Absolutely. But, who was Oz to judge? Everyone was having fun and nothing was set aflame so screw it.

“WhAt Do yOU MeAN nO?” A dunk ghost asked, pointing her finger clumsily at the poor monster in front of her. “ToiLET WinE Is OBvI tHE BeSt WIne TheRE IS! YoU’RE sO SObER!” Polly yelled as if sober was an insult.

“Y-you made that in the bathrooms!” The monster yelled, clearly appalled. “I saw you make it from actual toilet water!”

“sO? WhAt’S ThAt GoTTa dO wIth AnYThIng?”

“It’s unhygienic! You just tried to sell that shit to me!” Probably a lot more than just unhygienic but they have a point.

“Pft, WhAtevs. YoUR LOSS!” Polly downed the entire bottle of wine, sticking her middle finger right in the monster’s face.

“You—You fucking bitch!”

Oz could tell that a fight was about to break out. Just by the heat rising on that monster’s face and Polly’s intoxicated smile, nothing about this told him that they were on civil terms. Getting caught up in that was highly unappealing. A drunkard and a guy with a short fuse just never went meant any good.

He moved away from the mess and sat somewhere a little quieter. Oz wanted to sit by his friends but they were right next to Polly and that other person. Plus, a little peace and quiet never hurt.

He found a tree not too far from camp towards the forest. It made for a nice resting place separate from the crowd. He could even still hear the fire. Although, that might just be because his range of hearing extends for a good distance.

The fire crackled and snapped as the fumes of smoke raised up into the sky. Even as the drunken chatter of the campers engulfed these sounds, Oz could hear them all. As if he were apart from everyone else; an onlooker from afar. The sounds of voices dimmed as they would underwater and he found himself mesmerized by the fire.

“Maybe this is how Damien feels,” Oz said softly, chuckling to himself. Then he paused. Damien, He thought. I guess it doesn’t bother me anymore. The thought caused him to blank, losing himself to the sounds of background noise. He stared off into the sky and admired the stars which are usually covered by light pollution. “This is kind of nice.”

“What’s nice?”

Oz jerked out of his trance. “H-huh?”

“Hola Oz! Have you tried one of my drinks?”

It was Juan, the Small Magical Latino Cat hovering over his head. His tiny paw beans landed on Oz’s lap.

“Your drinks?” Oz asked. “What drinks?”

“You see what everyone is drinking?” Juan pointed one of his paws to a camper holding a blood bag.

“A blood bag? What even–?”

“No, no. That’s not just a regular blood bag, it’s one of my drinks that I’ve concocted!”

“I’m pretty sure that’s just a–”

“Have a look at my array of drinks!” Juan interrupted excitedly.

Juan popped a cooler from an explosion of confetti and opened it up. Inside were an array of weird objects inside cups and glasses. They had magical labels attached to them describing what it was. Most of them even seemed like something the Coven would confiscate.

“Choose one! I’m sure one of them will be to your liking!”

Oz stared inside the cooler. These so-called “drinks” didn’t really fit the definition. Heck, most of them weren’t even liquid at all! What the fuck even is “Sex On The Beach?” It was literally beach porn in a martini glass. There was literally just a screwdriver inside a cup! The last time Oz checked, that didn’t count as alcohol let alone a drink! Maybe Juan was just running out of ideas because there was just a blender sitting amongst them all. Not a glass, a blender. A blender with blender parts inside the blender… What kind of inception is this?

Juan was even able to obtain… Phobias? Of course, that’s the one Oz took but he puzzled on the idea that someone besides Sam and him knew how to extract Phobias. Especially some magical cat who thinks a screwdriver inside a cup counts as a beverage.

“So you chose the Phobia Shots? I can’t say I’m surprised,” Juan eyed Oz. “What’re you waiting for? Try it!”

“H-how…” Oz stared, perplexed by the drink. “How did you get your hands on this?”

“Hmm? What’d ya mean? I just bought them off eBay,” Juan scratched behind his ears; completely uninterested or bothered by Oz’s question. “Aren’t they pretty easy to come by? They sold for a shit load but it wasn’t totally unique.”

There are only two people in the world who can extract Phobias: Oz and Sam. It is a skill that can only be freely accessed by the embodiment of fear and those who borrow this skill from them. To Oz’s knowledge, there shouldn’t be anyone else who can or would want to extract Phobias let alone sell them. They would have to be incredibly similar to Oz as another embodiment of emotion. But that’s impossible. Few exist and none have any interest in Phobias. In fact, most other embodiments believe that Oz is the most abhorrent among them. It was part of the reason he was alone so often even with an entire spectrum of emotions. There was only one embodiment that came to mind… Impossible, Oz thought. He vanished a long time ago. They even found the remains of his existence rampaging throughout England.

“T-they do seem a little different than me. A little lighter in color,” Oz said, trying to reconcile his thoughts. Maybe he was just overreacting. Maybe he was just being absurd and some mad scientist found a way to artificially make Phobias. Considering that Vicky is a product of modern technology, it could always be possible.

“That’s probably because I added a little sugar and some white stuff I found in the package. I think it was some type of cream or something,” Juan floated down onto Oz’s lap; stretching his forelegs out.

“Cream?” Oz asked. “Why would there be cream?”

Juan shrugged. “Dunno. But it came in a pretty weird packaging. It came inside a tiny plastic bag thing. It didn’t have a zip lock though. Just tied in a knot.”

Oz paused, breathing in sharp. “...What?” Oz asked, eyes wide and trembling slightly. It wasn’t really a question, more of a confirmation. It’s not semen right? Fuck any suspicion Oz had about the Phobias. Was there jizz in this?

“Sí. Weird huh?” Juan curled himself tighter; getting comfortable on Oz’s lap. “They said to add them in for a better effect. I figured it might make it more flavorful.”

“Flavor…” Oz looked down at his cup. “It wasn’t, um, warm, was it?”

“Not by much no. Room temperature if I had to say,” Juan explained too absent-mindedly.

Room temperature he says! Why don’t you just kiss my room temperature ass–

“Oh, and it smelled pretty weird too!”

…It’s cum. It is so obviously cum. What the fuck Juan? The fact that a delicious Phobia was mixed with cum made Oz incredibly unnerved and unexplainably uncomfortable. If it was salty he’d know. But like hell he’d want to find out.

“Come on, give it a try!”

Fuck you.

“I-I’m good thanks,” Oz sputtered, pushing the glass as far away from him as possible. “I’ll just take your word for it.”

“Alright your loss. But I can’t really blame you,” Juan’s tail swayed behind him. “The only thing you’re missing out on is the stats.” Stats? Oz thought, puzzled. In what world did Phobias mixed with semen give you stats? “It doesn’t really look appealing except for a few. I’d be pretty surprised if you drank it if you weren’t the embodiment of fear.” So he did know that his drinks were absurd!

“W-well thanks anyway,” Oz waved expecting Juan to notice his cue. He didn’t.

“Wanna try a different one?” Juan stood up on all fours anticipating Oz’s answer.

“No! N-no, it’s fine.”

“Then try the one I gave you,” Juan put a paw on the glass of Phobias. “There’s nothing weird in it besides that white stuff.” That’s kind of the whole reason why Oz isn’t having it, Juan. Especially if that “white stuff” was because someone was jerking off to loli bullshit. Lolicon semen gets used in satanic rituals sometimes. (There’s no real reason for why they're used in satanic rituals other than because they sin without actually having to physically sin. Honorary pedos if you will.) No one wants that in their stomach. Not even Oz who has a literal void instead.

“I-I’ll take the extra drink.”

“Purrfect! Wanna take a spin? Or, do you wanna use a little skill?”

“Wait what?”

“The first one was free because it was your first one. But this is your second. I should make it a little more enjoyable for me if I’m losing a potential customer to you.”

“Were they originally supposed to be sold instead of given out?” Oz asked, genuinely curious. If Juan intended to make a wannabe bar wouldn’t that be kinda cool?

“Si! But since we’re amigos…” Juan pulled a colorful wheel from another eruption of confetti. He dropped it gently onto the ground. “I’ll let you spin for it.”

Each section of the wheel had the beverages Juan made. Now that Oz was looking at it, the selection of drinks went on for much longer than a single cooler. Moreover, the names just got more bizarre. What even was “The [REDACTED]?” Did holy water even count as an alcoholic beverage? …Juan didn’t steal that from the Church, did he?

Oz tried to read every choice there was on the wheel. Trying to find out which one he absolutely didn’t want and ones that he wouldn’t mind. During which, he found that Juan didn’t remove the “Phobia Shots” from the wheel. Hopefully, he isn’t unlucky enough to get it a second time.

Oz tugged on the side of the wheel; spinning it as fast as he could.

“And~” Juan yelled, holding the word out while awaiting the result. “You~ get:...” Ding! “A Love Potion!”

I’m sorry what?

“Congrats! Have someone drink this and they’re sure to fall deeply in love with you! Maybe even a little too deep,” Juan winked.

“Oh wow, that's really cool,” Oz complimented, smiling with his eyes as he casually poured out all the contents into the ground. How shameless.
“And–! Wait, what the hell are you doing?!” Watched, horrified by his hard work being disregarded so quickly. The vivid red of the drink flowed into the soil and eventually was completely absorbed. Perhaps the worms will have an early mating season.

“Anyway, thanks for the drink!” Oz said, incredibly enthusiastic. “It was really delicious! I’m sure you’ll go places with this kind of skill!”

“But you didn’t even–,” Juan frowned, disappointed. Juan’s frown looked so dejected it almost made Oz want to shovel the drink right back into his mouth. After all, Juan was still an adorable purple cat.

“Ah! Umm…” Oz stuttered, looking around for something to cheer him up. He wasn’t expecting Juan to react this way. “Oh! W-why don’t I teleport you to Vicky?” Vicky is pretty good at cheering people up. But, he’ll have to owe Vicky later for this one.

“Vicky?” Juan’s tail stopped swaying and laid limp on Oz’s lap.

“Yep!” Oz said, flusteredly opening a shadow next to him. “H-here. Jump in the shadow and it’ll take you directly to Vicky’s lap.”

“Really?”

“One hundred percent!”

Juan looked back at Oz one more time before leaping into the shadow. When he did, Oz let out a long sigh he didn’t know he was holding.

—

After Juan left, Oz continued to study these Phobias. He couldn’t bring himself to throw them out as he did with the Love Potion. They were still Phobias… even if they were vandalized by someone's goddamn cum.

But, overlooking all that (which was hard to do), adding anything to Phobias shouldn’t be possible. Not even Sam can do this. His drinks have no ingredients other than Phobias. What makes them so delicious is what kind of Phobia it is. Other than that, there is no distinct flavor. This is because they are equivalent to extracted emotions or memories. They are a part of a soul so they exist on a separate plane that cannot be touched. This rule is only broken if you’re someone like Oz.

The fact that Juan was able to not only touch it but mix it with tangible materials meant that these weren’t normal Phobias. Unless, of course, Juan is actually an eldritch being that can flatten mountains and turn tides in his sleep. If that were the case, Oz wouldn’t be too surprised. If an anime weeb, fanfic-obsessed, eldritch god who once killed for fun exists, then Juan being an all-powerful cat wouldn’t be too outlandish. Besides, that would be kinda cute to see. Was it so bad that he wouldn’t mind dying if it meant being squashed by toe-beans?

Oz mindlessly stared at the Phobias in his cup. They acted just as energetic as his Phobias but with that tiniest bit of hesitance. The new Phobias acted less chaotic and calmer. However, the most distinctive difference was the slight color difference. He’d noticed this before when he was trying to reconcile himself.

Oz placed the cup beside his arm to compare their black shade.

The two shades of black were ever so slightly different. The one in the cup was much lighter in color. It wasn’t void-black like Oz’s. This change in color is even more apparent at night where Oz can practically disappear in the shadows while these Phobias, although maybe not from a distance, could be seen clearly.

“You seem like a dilated version of us,” Oz noted, gently observing these new Phobias. “The same yet completely different. No amount of sugar or… ‘stuff’ is going to create this kind of effect.”

The new Phobias tilted their heads.

“I wonder if this was his doing,” Oz muttered, gently poking the Phobias in his cup. “If that’s the case…” He sighed. “Then that ‘white stuff’ probably isn’t cum… probably.”

Oz opened the void and placed the cup as far into it as possible. Even if there was a slight chance that it wasn’t, there wasn’t an absolute guarantee and Oz didn’t like those odds. Especially not when he’s the one having to reap what he sows. He didn’t want some random guy’s shit in his system.

“We’ll probably have to hunt somewhere else though. If he really is here, I don’t want to accidentally bump into him.” Although, I’m a bit tempted to ask him about the smell Juan mentioned, Oz decided to consider asking next time if they see each other.

The Phobias on Oz’s shoulder squawked at him.

“Yeah, yeah I know,” He groaned, pushing down some of the Phobias on his shoulder. “I’ll just go out of state to find fears. It’s not like that narcissistic bastard can ruin all of my hunting grounds. We won’t go hungry.” One of his Phobias stubbornly popped back up and crossed their arms in displeasure. “What?” The Phobia squeaked something angry; seeming unaccepting of the situation. “I’m not going to ruin my promise with him just because you think the fears here taste the best.”

Oz and his Phobias had a back-to-back argument which only got more heated the more the other side refuted.

“Listen,” Oz’s voice deepened, his eyes growing sharp. “You know damn well the last time I broke a promise with that bitch, shit didn’t end well. Not for him, not for me, and not for you. Just be patient and wait until he leaves!”

His Phobias didn’t seem the least bit fazed. They continued to shout and squeal complaint after complaint. Oz was losing patience.

“Why you little–!” Oz stopped, pausing to discern the sounds of the forest. He sensed something in the shadows, he heard the breaking of leaves not too far from where he was sitting. No one should be over here, Oz started listing off the reasons why someone would watch him secretly. Counselor Flodge? No, he wouldn’t hide without some sort of disguise. Oz could hear them get closer not bothering to conceal themselves at all. If they were, they weren’t doing a very good job.

“Who’s there!” Oz shouted, not bothering to look behind him. No being alive could kill him. There was nothing to be afraid of.

“Go….p”

“What? I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” He looked behind him, forgetting any suspicion he had of whoever it was. It was a habit to make sure he always heard the person correctly. Even if they were a potential threat to his life.

“Is that some juicy gossip I hear?”

As the figure crept closer, Oz could finally make out who it was. He wore very fancy attire with a red handkerchief tucked into his shirt and a very expensive watch on his wrist. His eyes were bright red and his wings were warped around his neck like a cape. Oz had seen him sitting dangerously close to the campfire as if enchanted by its fiery nature. Oz almost thought he was about to jump into it.

“Gossip?” Oz tilted his head. “W-what do you mean?” If you expected Oz to be all “who are you,” or “why were you watching me,” then perhaps you’ve never seen or met the Prank Masterz who defy all logic and morals known to mankind. As Damien would put it, “Questions are for noobs!”

“You see, I just so happened to hear the words ‘bitch’ and ‘promise’ and immediately got curious,” He said, believing that justified everything. “You should pay up for distracting me from my lady and savior: Campfire!”

“The campfire?” Oz looked him up and down then nodded. Ah, he’s a moth.

“Yes! For she is majestic and so alluring that the thought of being caressed by her warm embrace–!”

“So you said gossip,” Oz cut him off. He wasn’t really interested in whatever horny thoughts he had about a campfire. “Was there something you wanted to know?”

“Ah yes, right,” He coughed, bringing himself back with a bit of red brushed on his cheeks. “My name is Moss Mann and you are?”

Moss Mann? Not Moth Mann?.. What, is he like the rip-off version? Or is he the copy infringement version?

“Oz,” He said, smiling with his eyes.

“Wonderful to meet you Oz,” Moss Mann responded, sitting beside Oz on the ground. “Now then, as a token of your regret for distracting me from Lady Campfire I ask that you exchange a little gossip with me.”

“O-oh, well I don’t really have anything,” Oz rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry.”

“Hoho, but I doubt that,” Moss Mann smiled. “Spill it, who is the ‘bitch’ that you made a ‘promise’ with?”

“Ah, well that…” Oz fiddled with his fingers. “Umm.”

“Well?”

“T-they’re an old friend of mine who’s pretty frivolous so,” Oz explained, trying to drag out any social skills he had to weave his way out of this. The last thing he wanted was for some odd rumor to spread if he was misunderstood. “I-I made a promise with him to make sure that h-he doesn’t get out of control.”

“Oh!” Moss Mann’s bright red eyes gleamed brighter. “So what you’re saying is that your childhood friend who was crude to everyone else was soft towards you. This allowed you to take advantage of that fact to try and calm him down and help him. But, you called him a ‘bitch’ which means you must have fallen out and now you’ve probably met again. So now he’s desperately looking for you who helped him out so kindly during your younger years!”

“Yes but actually no–”

“What a wonderfully juicy story! Thank you for your intel,” Moth Mann jumps up and darts towards the rest of the campers. “I am off to tell everyone of this wonderful rumor!”

“W-wait what!!” So much for trying not to be misunderstood.

“I hope this childhood lover of yours forgives you!”

“I-I never said–!”

It was no use, Moss Mann was already jumping from camper to camper telling what Oz assumed to be that absurd story he made up. Some who didn’t know him weren’t particularly interested but some occasionally smiled. It was probably because they thought Oz and the other guy were lovers. But what worried Oz most was those he knew hearing it. They probably won’t leave him alone for weeks trying to play detective.

Oz hesitated. Was it better to leave Moss Mann to his questionable activity or save his dignity? He could just deal with Amira’s and Vicky’s frivolous questions later. For now, the idea of peace and quiet for just a little longer sounded very appealing. Who cares if rumors about him spread by tomorrow? Having a moment to yourself was rare and he didn’t want it to go to waste.

A Phobia squeaked, eyes bright and curious.

“He is not my Ex,” Oz groaned, blushing white. “How would I have hidden it from you guys anyway? You’re with me all the time!”

The Phobias crossed their arms; not believing a single word.

Chapter Text

“I want you to explore the camp. No ridiculous stunts, no ‘acts of excitement’ late at night, and no arson!” Ms. Weaving glared directly at Damien. “Understood?”

No. Obviously not.

“Sure.”

“Yes, Ms. Weaving!”

“Yep.”

“Fuck you old hag!”

The answers were different for everyone but no one could say no. Actions always spoke louder than words anyway. Especially when they’re all liars. How long could they possibly last trying to stay still? Hardly at all, most likely.

“You are not at high school anymore,” Ms. Weaving clapped her whip to the palm of her hand. “I don’t care what kinds of things Principle Giant Spider taught you; you are in my camp now. You will follow my orders.” A few monsters chuckled in the crowd. They are either fearless or stupid. Ms. Weaving wasted no time whipping her head around to single them out. “...I see some of you have oppositions. I shall see you in my office later today Mr. Lavey, Ms. Rashid, and Ms. Polly.”

“WHAT!” Damien yelled. “I didn’t say shit!”

“Do not try to explain yourself. I have many eyes and all of them would say much differently Mr. Lavey,” Ms. Weaving scowled. “I wouldn’t talk back if I were you.”

“Well you’re not me, so fuck you! I do whatever the fuck I want!”

“MR LAVEY!” Ms. Weaving’s jaw widened, seemingly detaching from her face. Her eyes glowed red and widened to a terrifying size. “Meet me at my office, NOW.”

“Ugh,” Damien groaned. “But I didn’t even do anything,” he muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing! I’m coming you fucking hag,” Damien grumbled, shoulders hunched over as he followed after Ms. Weaving.

“Ms. Rashid, Ms. Polly,” Ms. Weaving eyed them among the crowd. Even as Amira tried to hide behind their friends and Polly tried to float out of view (a terrible idea in open sky), Ms. Weaving spotted them immediately. “Are you waiting for me to drag you by force? I’ve been reserving punishments for until later, but perhaps they should be done now.”

“No, no, no,” Amira scrambled out from behind Dahlia. “I-I think I got it. I’m coming.”

“Ehhhh? Whaaaat? I gotttaaaa go toooo?” Polly whined, her words slurring from whatever alcohol she drank. For all anyone knows, it might not even be alcohol. “I thoought this whass just for Damien because he'ss a dick.”

“WHAT!” Damien screamed, outraged.

Ms. Weaving eyed Damien, shutting him up immediately.

“Did I not say your name earlier?”

“Probabllyy noot?” Polly responded, shrugging.

“That was a rhetorical question, Ms. Polly. The answer was yes,” Ms. Weaving pinched the bridge between her eyes.

“Awww, fine,” Polly slowly hovered toward Ms. Weaving.

“As for the rest of you,” Ms. Weaving turned to face the crowd of impatient monsters. “This is the last day of rest. Starting tomorrow you will be expected to participate in a series of activities. Take this time to familiarize yourself with the camp.” She simply waved before dragging the three trouble teens behind her to the camp’s HQ.

—

Everyone went their separate ways. Some went to the lake, others went to the woods. A good portion of them went to the Dome. It was already getting pretty crazy in there. People or just their body parts were flying from the holes in the netted roof. Some were even getting stuck up there. At this point, Oz was just hoping there’d be enough survivors to actually start camping. If there were too many casualties it would probably be a problem.

Oz noticed sharp objects also escaping from the Dome. It would occasionally hit an unsuspecting passerby. If they were lucky it wouldn’t have a bomb stuck at the end of it.

“Oz! You gonna join us by the lake or keep watching body parts fall from the sky?” Vicky called out to him. “Bring your swimsuit and let’s gooo! Amira’s not here so we’re free to go all out!”

“Sure!” Oz yelled after. “I’ll be right back to get my stuff!”

“Oh, and while you’re at it, could you get Brian’s waterproof glue thingy? He keeps complaining about his head falling off!”

“I got it! I’ll be right back!”

“Thanks!” Brian yelled from behind Vicky. He had his hands firmly pressed on his head so it wouldn’t fall off.

—

When Oz got to camp, he tried to get to his tent as quickly as possible. But, when got there, he wasn’t the only one still there.

Standing dangerously close to the campfire was the nosy moth from before. He was lurched over the campfire; mesmerized and dazed. His antennas were twitching as if restless and waiting for something. It was an odd thing to witness. At some point, Oz found himself being mesmerized by him wondering what he’d do. Would he jump? Oz stared at him curiously, having completely forgotten about why he was even here.

Moss Mann reached for the fire. Slowly, his hand caressed the top flames, never withdrawing his hand. He continued to lower it down, so focused on this action he couldn’t notice Oz coming closer. His hand was right above the fire. If he inched any closer it would ignite his setae-coved hands in mere milliseconds. Whether setae was flammable or not was beyond Oz’s knowledge. But, he did know one thing: you can burn bugs with a magnifying glass.

“Hey,” Oz grabbed the moth’s shoulders, jerking him backward away from the fire. “You do know fire is hot right? You know, like burning hot.”

Moss Mann blanked. His red eyes were still wide as if he was still there with his hand above the flames.

“Ah…” He blinked, trying to gain his bearings. “I hadn’t even realized.”

Now that Oz thought about it, this guy was like the cousin to pyromaniacs. He was like the more cultist version. Hadn’t he even mentioned something about his “lady and savior: campfire?”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” The answer was obvious but Oz wanted to make sure he knew that too. “I mean, you could die one day without realizing it.”

“I could,” Moss Mann nodded. “But I don’t think I would mind being sacrificed to the almighty fire.”

“...” Oz let go of him and promptly left. Another second of listening to him might have driven Oz crazy. If Zoe’s cultist group didn’t follow them here then Moss Mann’s fire cult would. Even if he doesn’t have a cult, it would probably be made sooner or later.

—

Oz rummaged through his tent. It wasn’t too big and only had enough space for two people. They were assigned to each camper the second you woke up… in very literal terms. Almost everyone except a select few (including Oz) were actually awake to see their tents. After last night, people were drunk out of their minds or just plain out. Oz had to drag his friends into their assigned tents. For some reason, no one questioned this. Why? Who the hell knows.

Oz’s tent didn’t have a second roommate or should we say tentmate. It was just him so he had a lot of breathing room. Although Coach said they were expecting them to come later in the week. So, Oz would have to keep the right side of the tent empty.

There were only two bags that Oz brought. One for his clothes and the other for essentials and pass time objects. Of course, his swim trunks were all the way at the bottom of his first bag. Sure he could have used the void to store his stuff but, for once he wanted to experience camping like everyone else. It was part of the reason why he even came in the first place.

“It should be— ah! Found it!” Oz yanked it from the bottom of his bag. “Crud, why did I have to pack it so far down.”

Oz unbuttoned down his pants. I should probably close my tent… Oz looked out through the wide opening. He slithered a strand of Phobias towards the tent’s zipper and zipped it up. I’ll get Brian’s stuff after.

—

“Oz! There you are!” Vicky waved from the lake’s shore. She wore a one-piece swimsuit with a high ponytail. “Come on! Take off your damn polo shirt and let’s go!”

Oz only switched out his pants for swim trunks but he hadn’t taken his shirt off.

“I-I won’t be swimming,” Oz said, shaking his head. “I-I’ll just sit here beside Cal.” Oz tilted his head towards Calculester who was lounging back on a chair doing crosswords.

Calculester looked up.

[ :) ] “I’d be most happy to have you accompany me, friend Oz,” Calculator smiled digitally. “There is a chair beside me where you may sit.”

“Thanks, Cal.”

[ :) ] “Of course friend Oz.”

Oz sat on the green patio chair beside him.

“Seriously?” Vicky groaned. “You’re going to ditch us for Cal and his crosswords? You gotta be kidding me. Why did you even switch out into swim trunks then?”

“Cuz’ I’ll swim later just not now,” Oz shrugged. “I wanted to get started on that crossword book I showed you before.”

“You mean that weapon of a book? Oz that’s practically an accordion!” Vicky whined. “A crossword accordion.”

“Let Oz do his thing,” Brian said, still trying to keep his head upright.

“But–”

“Anyway, Oz, do you have my glue? My head has literally fallen off like ten times by now. These damn seagulls won’t stop poking at it!” Brian swatted an incoming seagull. “At least I’m not having it half as bad as Noodles…Bright side, bright side.”

“Noodles?” Oz looked around the lake. Right the jellyfish from the bus, Oz remembered. “Where– oh god.”

Right near the shallow part of the lake was Noodles, the green jellyfish, being torn apart by a flock of seagulls. His hat was floating away leaving his gelatinous head wide open to his attackers.

“HElp!”

“Shouldn’t we help him?” Oz asked, looking around nervously. “Couldn’t he, you know, die from this?”

“He’ll be fine,” Abdu assured, calmly waving it off. “This has happened like a billion times before. Don’t worry about it.”

Abdu was lazily drifting along with the current of the lake on his really weird orange floaty. Oz had seen Amira use this floaty before but he could never tell what it was. His best guess was some weird unicorn-looking thing.

“GOd PlEAse HeLP Me!” Noodles screamed, his words distorting as his limbs were being tugged at.

“You sure?” Oz watched as the seagulls continued to tug at Noodle’s membrane. “Because that doesn’t look fine to me.”

Brain jumped out of the lake and started coming over to Oz.

“Well if you’re that worried about him then help him out,” Brian suggested. “Do you have my glue?”

“Yeah, it’s right here,” Oz handed Brian his glue.

“Thanks,” Brian started straightening his head as much as possible before brushing the glue onto his neck.

“HelP ME!”

“I think I’m going to go chase those seagulls off,” Oz said, sitting up from his chair.

“Good call,” Brain nodded, his head finally attached to his neck.

“Hey, Noodles you good?” Oz called out. It was a pretty stupid question but at some point, it became protocol to ask this anyway.

“NO!” Noodles yelped as his tentacles got stretched. “HElP!”

“Hold on, I'm coming!” Oz grabbed a nearby branch and chucked it at the seagulls. Yes, he chucked it. Right at it. And he had pretty good aim too. It hit one of the seagulls so hard it sent them flying back into the deepest part of the lake.

“Woah! Nice aim Oz!” Vicky shouted.

“You okay?” Oz knelt down.

“Oh golly I almost died,” Noodles chuckled. A bit odd to laugh saying something like that but who’s to judge? “Thanks a bunch! I really wish she helped me out instead though.”

“S-sure no problem.” She? Oz thought.

“Do you think I could stay with you for a while?” Noodles asked, looking up at Oz. “I gotta get my hat first though.”

“Yeah, that would probably be for the best,” Oz nodded. “Your hats’ over there by the way.” He pointed behind Noodles. “It was floating away while you were being attacked.”

“Thanks!” Noodles started to swim his way towards it.

“So,” Oz said, wanting to make conversation. “Do you really have to deal with this often?”

“Oh yeah!” Noodles responded, flipping his hat onto his head. “You get used to it after a while though.”

“I see…” Oz scratched the back of his neck. “Can’t you use, like, ‘seagull repellent’ or something?”

“Silly, there’s no such thing!” Oh, so other weird types of repellent exist but seagull repellent doesn’t?

Noodles wadded through the water back onto the shore. He came up to the tip of Oz’s shoes and reached two of his tentacles upward as if asking for a lift. Oz responded in kind by lifting him up into his arms.

“Wow you’re really,” Oz couldn’t help but bounce Noodles around a bit. The buoyancy of his body was slightly astounding. “You almost feel like jello.”

“I get that a lot.” You do? “But don’t shake me too much, it makes me dizzy.”

“Ah, sorry,” Oz apologized. Kinda like tapping on a fishbowl? Or would it be a totally different thing since it's his body? Oz thought. It was an incredibly random thought but for some reason, it reminded him of it.

[ :D ] “Friend Oz!” Calculester called out. “Is friend Noodles okay?”

“He seems fine,” Oz looked down. “Are you fine?”

“Yup yup!” Noodles affirmed, a clenched tentacle shooting up into the sky.

Oz made his way back to the dock and situated himself back on the chair with Noodles on his lap. Noodles seemed to wiggle around a bit trying to get comfortable. The whole ordeal made Oz try his best not to look uncomfortable by this action.

“I really appreciate your help back there!” Noodles chuckled. “But, I probably could have handled it.”

[ :/ ] “Excuse me if I am wrong but are you not a jellyfish?”

“Indeed I am!”

[ :/ ] “Aren’t jellyfish preyed upon by seagulls? How exactly would you have ‘dealt with it?’” Calculester probed. “The situation just now leads me to believe that it would not be easy, much less possible.”

“Ho ho but that’s where you’re wrong!” Noodles proclaimed. “In fact, I have many ways to ward off those flying bastards!”

[ :0 ] “Please enlighten me. I am always looking to expand my understanding of fellow organics.”

“I would like to know too,” Oz said, his Phobias popping out of his shoulder. “How would you have dealt with it if I wasn’t there?” It probably has something to do with whoever ‘she’ is.

“Well, you see,” Noodles’ face hardened and became horrifyingly humanoid. For some reason, he grew eyebrows and a very defined nose. God knows how this jellyfish can not only breathe on land but have eyes and a mouth. “I have a secret I have yet to tell anyone.” Noodles’ voice lowered into a whisper.

[ <] )) ] “A secret?” Calculester lowered in closer, his robotic voice also lowering as a volume symbol appeared on his monitor.

“Yes,” Noodles smirked.

The smirk felt incredibly wrong and everyone should feel lucky this is in writing and not in a visual format.

“You see my dear uninformed,” Noodles paused for dramatic effect. “I have a forbidden love with a beautiful seagull named Seagulina! Such a beautiful name for a beautiful maiden.” Sparkles and cherry blossoms appeared around Noodles as he sighed for his love. Oz thought he was high for the first time. So that’s who ‘she’ is. “Such is the fate for the destined.”

“I-I see,” Oz said. Oz had never regretted being able to see as much as he did right now.

[ :) ] “So are you implying that you were waiting for Ms. Saegulina to save you?” Calculester asked, completely unbothered.

“Yes! Exactly that my digital yet physical friend!” Noodles smiled, his human face slowly disappearing. Popping in and out of existence like that was disturbing in and of itself. Oz hoped Noodles wouldn’t make that face too often.

“What would you have done if she didn’t come?” Considering that none of those seagulls seemed fond of Noodles, none of them were probably her. That being said, Noodles must have another way to survive from seagulls. He couldn’t have known Seagulina for too long.

“Nothing!”

…What?

“Really?” Oz was dumbfounded. “Nothing? You would just sit there and practically be torn apart until you die?”

“Yep yep!” Noodles said far too happily. “I believe in Seagulina no matter what happens.” The face reappeared. Its hardened and concentrated look did not fit a tiny jellyfish at all. “Don’t you have someone you love? Like someone you want to believe in even if it seems impossible?” The face vanished and Noodles’ derpy face returned. Good.

“Someone I love…” Oz mumbled to himself.

[ :D ] “If I am not mistaken friend Oz, did you not ‘crush’ on friend Damien?”

“HUSH!” Oz blushed bright white. Instinctively his hands went to cover Calculester’s nonexistent mouth. “S-stop. I-I’m over it already.”

[ :/ ] “Friend Oz I did not realize that this was a time to lie,” Calculester tilted his head. “However, I will respond to your lying as stated per protocol. CODE COMMAND: LYING.” Calculester’s body started to twitch. [ :D ] “COMMAND RECEIVED. Yes, you are absolutely right, friend Oz. Nowhere in my vast files of knowledge do I find any recollection of you liking friend Damien.”

Oz sighed.

“This Damien guy,” Noodles started, “is he the Damien that got in trouble?”

“...Yes,” Oz shook his head. There was no point in hiding it anymore. Calculester was never good at lying anyway.

“Gotcha,” Noodles nodded to himself. “Is it not mutual?”

“No,” Oz huffed. “But I’m over it now. At least, I think.”

“Hmm,” Noodles stared down at his tentacles, fidgeting with them. “Are you really sure he doesn’t like you back?”

“I’m more sure about that than anything ever,” Oz rolled his eyes. “He made it pretty clear.”

“Yeah but,” Noodles turned back to Oz. “That’s not what I heard.”

“What?” Oz asked. “Who did you hear from?”

“Dahlia,” Noodles stated simply. “You probably know how obsessed she is with taking over Damien’s circle of hell.”

“Of course,” Oz nodded. Where was he going with this?

“She spent a lot of time trying to find all of Damien’s weaknesses. That is until she found out just how weak Damien really was.” Kinda odd to hear that come from a tiny jellyfish but okay. “Well, one of them was you, Oz.”

“M-me?” Oz’s body stiffed without his consent. Hope. Tiny bits of it pushed back by pride and fear. “W-why?” It all threatened to overflow. If Noodles was hinting at what Oz thought… Oz wasn’t so sure he would be able to keep his composure.

“He had thousands of pictures, books, and stuff about you Oz. Thousands.”

What. The. Fuck.

Chapter Text

“He had thousands of pictures, books, and stuff about you, Oz. Thousands.”

“I-I’m sorry?” Oz stuttered, awkwardly laughing.

There was no way that was true. Why would Damien even have anything relating to Oz? To stalk him? To freak him out? They hardly had any relationship for Damien to have photos of him much less… books?

“Crazy right?” Noodles smiled, wiggling his tentacles excitedly with absolutely no implied meanings. (You tentacle hentai obsessed bastards.) “Maybe he thinks more about you than you thought.”

“Well he certainly doesn’t act like it,” Oz mumbled. “Wait no no no, never mind that. Why would he even have things like that?”

“What do you mean? Aren’t you like a really old deity or something?” Noodles tilted his jiggly head(?)/body.

“Not a deity,” Oz shook his head. “Zoe and I are more eldritch abominations than something so pure like a deity. Although some of us might as well be deities.” Oz tapped his chin, seemingly thinking hard on something. “One of them deals with the emotion of joy and excitement. So he might as well be a god for going around trying to make sure everyone is happy.”

“Gotcha,” Noodles nodded.

[ :0 ] “This is some incredible new information, friend Oz,” Calculester said attentively. “The only information known about the man you mentioned is that he is an omen of good luck. However, it was never stated that he did it because he needed to like you.”

“Well, it makes sense why you wouldn’t find anything,” Oz sighed. “That guy has always been unnecessarily cautious.”

[ :/ ] “And you are not?”

“Hush."

[ :) ] “Understood.”

“So if you aren’t a deity, why are there old texts about you?” Noodles asked. “I mean, you must have interacted with society a lot to have that much stuff on you.”

”That much stuff?” How much does Damien have on me exactly? Oz thought, a little disturbed.

“Well, Damien is a demon,” Oz said plainly.

“So?” Noodles only got more confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I interacted with demons more than any other race when I was younger,” Oz explained. “Hell has a greater amount of fear than anywhere else making meals a lot more delicious and in more hefty amounts. In all the time I was there, I made a lot of acquaintances and did a couple of jobs for them. It also helps that Damien is the prince of the Eighth Circle of Hell. I interacted with the ancestors or predecessors of that family quite often. I might as well have been an essential part of their history.”

“Wow!” Noodles shouted, his eyes sparkling. “That’s so cool!”

[ :D ] “Even more new information!” Calculestor’s monitor made a squeal. It was probably a good thing… probably.

“Damien probably just got interested in you then!” Noodles exclaimed. “See? He doesn’t dislike you!”

Then what? Is Damien just a certified tsundere?

“Highly unlikely,” Oz said firmly. “He probably just has a lot on me since I’m part of his family’s history.”

[ :( ] “I’m afraid friend Oz is right. None of friend Damien’s past actions has made it obvious that he has romantic intentions towards friend Oz.” Calculester frowned digitally.

“Eh, but it looked so obvious to me?” Noodles responded innocently.

“Probably because you’ve never seen Damien talk to me,” Oz presumed. “If you did you’d think the same.”

[ :/ ] “According to the people of the web, those who show romantic interest are usually kind or do something called ‘flirting.’ I have yet to observe friend Damien doing these actions,” Calculester agreed.

“He must at least think highly of you!” Noodles yelled stubbornly. “Why else would he have posters of you?” Noodles flailed his tentacles in an attempt to garner attention.

“Posters?”

[ :) ] “I believe friend Noodles is referring to tapestries. Any ‘posters’ on you, friend Oz, are likely to be old.”

Even though Oz kept coming up with reasons, it still didn’t make any sense. Why would Damien be so curious about Oz? It couldn’t have been because he wanted to learn more about their history. Moreover, when he went to drop off Damien (Ch. 4), the demon king didn’t seem to recognize him. This alone told Oz that he wasn’t as prominent in their history after he disappeared to become Oz. But then that would mean any history on Oz had to have disappeared after the LaVey took over. So how did Damien get his hands on it?

“Oz?” Noodles tapped his shoulder. “You okay?”

“Uh– what, huh?” Oz jolted. He hadn’t realized that he’d been zoning out for so long. “S-sorry what were you saying?”

“Are. You. Okay?” Noodles dragged over every word to make sure he was heard.

“Y-yeah. I’m good,” Oz pet the top of Noodles head(?)/body. “Thanks.”

[ :D ] “Friend Oz, now that it is settled, would you like to continue our crosswords?” Calulester lifted his puzzle book to show.

“Sure that sounds great,” Oz chuckled. “I did bring a really big one.”

“The understatement of the year!” Vicky groaned, drenched in water. “So stop and come over here goddamnit!”

“Nope,” Oz shook his head. “Not a chance.” Oz whipped out the mother of all crosswords books and slammed it onto the floor. It was so big it reached up to his chest, the perfect height.

[ :0 ] “It’s huge!”

Vicky cackled and made a cup around her mouth. “That’s what she said!!”

“Vicky!” Oz reprimanded.

“What?”

“What does that mean?” Noodles looked up at Oz, curious. “I don’t get it.”

“...” Vicky and Oz went silent.

“...This is your fault.”

“Hey!”

—

Oz and Calculester worked on the crosswords for a good hour and a half. Calculester was already finishing up while Oz hadn’t even made a dent in the damn thing. By then there weren’t many people left at the lake except those like Noodles and Miranda (sadly Miranda isn’t here.) Brian and Vicky had already left to check out the Dome and the rest went their separate ways.

[ :D ] “Friend Oz I have just completed my crosswords,” Calculester gently closes the book. “However, it was not as fun as I thought it would be. Having the web be the equivalent to an organic brain is somewhat of a cheat.” A lot more than somewhat. Calculester has something even broader than a dictionary completely memorized whether he likes it or not.

“Why don’t you try sudoku then?” Oz suggested, tapping his pencil on his chin. “What’s a five-letter word with an O and an E?” He mumbled.

[ ? ] “Sudoku?” Calculester considered it silently; most likely going through the web to find information on it. [ :) ] “I suppose I should. It seems much harder to cheat on than crosswords.”

“Have fun then,” Oz replied a bit too blandly, not looking up. “Uh– sorry I mean I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun!” He corrected, changing his tone and finally facing Calculester. “Sorry I was too focused on it I–”

[ :) ] “It is fine friend Oz. Concentration is a good trait.”

“Thank you,” Oz smiled with his eyes. More than anything, Oz always felt touched when his friends don’t mind his little habits or insecurities. To know they understood meant a lot to him even if he never said it verbally.

A notification rang on Calculester’s monitor.

[ :( ] “I apologize friend Oz but I need to leave. It seems friend Polly and friend Amira wants help with getting out of detention.” Detention? Was that always a thing in camps or is that just new?

“It’s alright,” Oz placed his pencil inside his crosswords. “I should get going soon too.”

[ :) ] “Have a good day friend Oz,” Calculester said, excusing himself.

“See you,” Oz waved.

Oz put the ginormous crosswords book back into the void. Oz didn’t expect he’d finish it today he still wanted to see if he could finish it by the end of summer camp. A little challenge for himself to keep him motivated.

“Now that that’s settled,” Oz stretched his arms above his head. “I might just rest in the tent until dinner. I can always indulge in whatever chaos is happening in the Dome tomorrow. For now, some rest sounds good.”

Oz started to make his way back towards the camp. There were still hundreds of miscellaneous objects being thrown from the top of the Dome. There were so many that piles were being formed outside of it. Ms. Weavings will probably scold them for it later.

When Oz got back to camp, instead of seeing a lone oversized moth, a crowd surrounded the fireplace. At first, Oz thought they decided to hold dinner early, but then he noticed that it wasn’t a crowd but a group of people circling something. They didn’t look like cultists so maybe something interesting happened?

As Oz inched closer he was able to make out what was in the middle. It was a large glowing ball of white light. It bobbed up and down like an alien object. It was no surprise something like this caught everyone’s attention. It was new and most likely their first time seeing it. But, this certainly wasn’t the first time Oz saw it.

“What is it?”

“Whoa, what the fuck?”

“This is kinda cool.”

“Hey, should we really be close to this thing?”

It seemed that there were only a few campers out here. Only enough to surround the thing once. Those numbers would easily multiple through gossip though.

“Everyone shut up!” A voice shouted above everyone else. It was Aaravi.

“Calm down Aaravi,” Hex groaned. “You need to learn to chill.”

“I am chilling!” She huffed. “Anyway, I’m taking the orb-thing and no one can stop me!”

“What?!”

“Hey who said you could!”

Floods of angry disagreements came rushing towards her as people started to fight over the orb. It got passed on from owner to owner as everyone tried to get their hands on it. But frankly, no one knew what it was worth and just wanted it because everyone else wanted it. Aaravi probably wanted it because she thought it was something to aid her in her adventures or something of the sort.

Thrown from place to place, somehow it was launched straight up into the air, entirely out of everyone’s reach… except Oz, which it landed into the hands of. Have fun.

“Wait what?” Oz looked down at the orb then back at the greedy crowd. He hadn’t fully absorbed what just happened until he saw Aaravi stare him down. “Oh, crud.” The mob was already rushing towards him but before they could get him, he sunk into the void and disappeared.

—

He couldn’t go to the tent now so his best bet was HQ. The woods would have been nice but the last time he was there he hardly found any peace and quiet. At least HQ is where most of the staff is so things would be a little less chaotic than normal.

“Ms. Weavings,” Oz greeted. Right when he stepped out of the void, Ms. Weavings just so happened to be right in front of where he was. She seemed to be coming back with a

“Good afternoon,” Ms. Weavings replied. “Have you come to visit your friends from this morning?”

Oh, that’s right. Amira is still being reprimanded, Oz recalled, feeling sorry for her. She’ll probably want a full summary of what happened today.

“No,” Oz shook his head. “I’m just here to, uh.” Oz scrambled through his memories to find an excuse. “I-I came here to do crosswords!.. I-in peace since it’s so noisy outside.”

“I see,” Ms, Weaving sighs. “Understable. This year's group of campers is just as rowdy as I expected. That will not stop me from making sure this week runs smoothly, however.” Ms. Weaving looked down at the orb in Oz’s hands. “And that is? Please do not tell me that is what you will be doing your crosswords with.”

“O-oh no,” Oz frantically waved his hands in defense. “It’s, uh, my lamplight!” Oz lied.

“Hmm, strange but as long as it isn’t dangerous I have no qualms,” Ms. Weaving started to walk off. “If you need me I will be in my office making those three chant their wrongs.”

“T-thank you,” Oz waved as she opened the farthest door down the HQ and slammed it shut. Before she did, Oz caught a glimpse of Amira and Polly trying to escape through the window with Calculester’s help. I hope Cal doesn’t get in too much trouble, Oz hoped.

Oz spotted a seating lounge perfect for resting. It had three colorful beanbags situated in a triangle formation. It almost looked too good to be true especially when the library, which is supposed to be the quietest place in Spooky High, didn’t look as peaceful as this.

Oz plopped down on the yellow beanbag and took out his stupidly big crosswords book. The first ones he did were pretty normal but as he got deeper into the book they seemed to get more ridiculous. On one of them, all the hints just had the word "cross" on it. The answer was just different was to say peeved or mad. So, literally “cross”words. The next was just plain weird with the first hint across being: “Something that goes in and out,” which was four letters long. And the first hint down was: “Something that goes in and out (remix),” which was also just four letters long. How in the world did this book make it into the family section of the bookstore?

Even with all the weird puzzles in the book, this was the first time Oz was able to have alone time with himself. Occasionally he would hear the screams of his friends in Ms. Weavings’ office but that hardly bothered him. It was almost so enjoyable he forgot about the orb entirely.

“I wonder what I should do with it,” Oz looked down at the orb. He placed it beside him on the beanbag. “This obviously belongs to him so I should give it back, right? I guess this proves my suspicion,” Oz sighed. “Sorry guys, guess we really have to hunt elsewhere.” Oz looked down at the Phobias on his shoulder. Instead of bursting into arguments like last time, they just stayed silent and nodded their heads. “How about we visit some of our old hunting grounds?” Oz suggested, trying to cheer them up. They smiled then sunk back into Oz’s shoulder.

This’ll be the first time in a couple of years I’ve had to do this. I wonder if he still holds that petty grudge against me, Oz chucked to himself.

“What’s so funny?”

Oz paused. Slowly, he lifted his head to see who it was. Just from the voice alone, he could already tell.

“D-Damien.”

“Well? What is it?” Damien scoffed, squatting down to Oz’s level. “Spit it out.”

“Uh, well,” Oz sputtered. “I-I mean–”

“Quit messing with Oz and get over here you traitor!” Polly yelled between a small crack in the door.

“Why should I!” Damien yelled, standing back up and turning sharply to face Polly.

“Ms. Geist! Return to your seat at once!” Ms. Weaving slapped her whip to her hand. “Mr. LaVey has properly finished his period of detention. You have not.”

The door slammed shut. Perhaps the last we’ll ever see of Polly is her horrified face as Ms. Weaving inches closer. Thankfully she can’t die twice… probably. Amira wasn’t heard but no news is good news. That is, as long as she isn’t dead.

“So, what were you laughing about?” Damien plopped down on the beanbag across from Oz. “Something about that huge ass book?”

“I-it’s nothing,” Oz kept looking down, not able to make eye contact.

Damien stopped pushing for an answer. Although, his silence probably meant he didn’t think it was "nothing."

“What the hell even is that?” Damien pointed to the huge crossword book in front of Oz.

“C-crosswords,” Oz said simply.

“Fucking hell, one that big?”

“I-I guess?” Oz finally looked up.

It was strange how normal their conversation was. It wasn’t that long ago Oz was bluntly turned down. But, Oz held no grudges against Damien. In a way, all his years of being alive taught him emotional strength. Being unable to keep relationships because of his lifespan made letting go of feelings just a little bit easier. It’s a shame that it didn’t teach him how to be less insecure though.

“Is that like some weird-ass lamp light? It’s not even dark out,” Damien eyed the orb sitting next to Oz. “Did you get it at the same place you got that thing?”

“N-no. I, um, a friend gave it to me,” Oz restored to a half-lie. Aaravi did give it to him, just not voluntarily and directly. “W-why do you ask?”

“I saw some guy wandering around the woods with one of those in their hand. They were part of the reason me and Milo got lost.” (*cough* Milo and I *cough*) Damien’s eyes seemed to get lost in the glow of the orb. “But then they spotted us and started to chase us.” He shivered. “Creepy fucking bastard.”

“He chased you?” Oz tilted his head, leaning forward. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Damien huffed. “We were just following them because they didn’t look like a camper. They had this feel to them that reminded me of you. We lost them as we ran but it didn’t feel good to be some fucking coward.”

“Reminded of me…” Oz pondered on it.

“N-not that I was thinking of you at the time,” Damien said, flusterdly trying to backtrack.

“What did they look like?”

“Bright as hell, white tuxedo, and a big ass white thing in his hand. Looks exactly like the one you have,” Damien recalled. “Light incarnate or something.”

“So he really is here,” Oz sighed, leaning back in the beanbag.

“Who?” Damien raised a brow. “You know him or something?”

“You probably have seen him too,” Oz closed his crosswords. “He probably doesn’t look the same as he did then but still the same person.”

“Where would I have seen a walking glow stick like that?”

“Have you ever explored your history as a Demon?” Oz was still curious about what he heard earlier at the lake. Maybe if he pushed for an answer subtly, he would figure it out. Asking questions he already had answers to wasn’t a bad start.

“Kinda, why?” Damien leaned forward this time. “What do they have to do with demons?”

“I don’t know if you know this but, eldritch beings like me often visit hell. Although, probably not as often as I did.”

“Yeah and? Is he one of you or something?” There it is, Oz’s answer. Damien didn’t question why Oz had anything to do with their history. He was too unbothered by it. This had to mean he really did know Oz’s history with his culture. But how?

“You might recognize him if I tell you his affinity.”

“Well? I’m not that patient,” Damien groaned.

Still, Damien acted too unsurprised by all this. Why did he know so much about demon history? If the demon king Oz met before didn’t recognize him, then how in the world did Damien?

“H-how are you acting so calm about this?” Oz couldn’t take it anymore. He needed direct answers.

“I already told you I know my history, now just spit it out already!” Damien was growing restless by the second. “Seriously you’re killing me. Keep this up and I might just set this whole goddamn place on fire.”

“What?” Ms. Weaving opened the door from her office. She glared in Damien’s direction.

“N-nothing!” Damien jolted, her sudden words taking him by surprise.

Ms. Weaving continued to glare at him before finally closing the door again. Could she have heard their entire conversation since the start? No way right?

“What the fuck,” Damien grumbled.

“A-anyway, you didn’t answer my question,” Oz said, still stubbornly prompting Damien to satisfy his curiosity. “How do you know this much?”

“I did answer it. I know my history. Is that so fucking hard to believe?”

Yes.

“W-well, kinda?”

Damien rolled his eyes.

“Just tell me.”

“But–”

“Oz,” Damien snapped.

“...Fine,” Oz gave in. Maybe if he told him he would get answers later.

“Finally,” Damien heaved a sigh, resting back into his beanbag. Guess he was more anxious about knowing than Oz thought.

“Joy.”

“Huh?” A look of confusion crossed his face. “Joy? You mean the Joy with alliteration for her name? That one?”

“No. Not a name but his affinity as an eldritch. He deals with joy, happiness, and satisfaction,” Oz explained. “N-not Joy the person.”

“Wait…” Something clicked in Damien’s head. “You mean that saintly bastard!”

Saintly?

Chapter Text

“Wait… You mean that saintly bastard!”

Oz tilted his head.

“You know him?”

If Damien really did know him then was he really studying his history? In what world did Damien LaVey care to study? Certainly not this one. So, why? Maybe he really did get a change of heart after graduation.

“Do I know him?” Damien laughed as if Oz asked the obvious. “Why the fuck wouldn’t I? That bastard has been causing trouble all around hell. I’ve never seen him but you don’t really have to when he’s been causing the chaos he has. Kinda admire that.” He smirked.

So it wasn’t history. Good. Now we know he wasn’t possessed or something. Although, it didn’t answer every question stored in Oz’s closet.

“Chaos?” Oz was failing to keep up. He couldn’t grasp what any of anything had to do with each other. “Why would he be causing chaos?”

“Probably just like all of us,” Damien shrugged. “Like, you know, for the fun of it.”

“But he isn’t the type to do things like that,” Oz mumbled under his breath. But, he must’ve been too loud if Damien could hear him.

“Well, he did things like help abandoned souls and punished souls find peace. He also opened a bunch of portals to Earth so that those who died early could get another chance. Sound like something he’d do?” Damien raised a brow.

Actually, it did. Oz knew him as someone with a kind heart. What Damien described as chaos was probably only considered a crime in Hell but angelic grace on Earth. He was the only eldritch incarnation of emotion that bothered with helping others. Some followed his example but not as faithfully as he did. But there was something strange about it.

“That sounds—irresponsible?” Bothering with the souls of the dead belonged to only three races: demons, angels, and grim reapers. Of course, there was the exception of incarnations of death or life but they belonged somewhere with the grim reapers. Incarnations like Oz had no business or right to bother with it. Doing so would disrupt the circle of life… or death.

“Right?!” Damien sprang up, surprising Oz. “He only stopped recently. Maybe that has something to do with why he’s here? You think he’s planning to pull some shit here too?” His tail was wagging back and forth; not even bothering to hide his excitement.

“N-no that can’t be it,” Oz shook his head. “And plus! We don’t even know if the guy you saw was actually him. I just guessed it could have been him based on your description.”

“Eh, knowing you and your smart ass you’re probably right,” Damien smiled. “Maybe this dumb summer camp will turn out to be a lot more fun than I thought.”

“Wait, Damien,” Oz grabbed Damien by the wrist trying to quell his ever-growing excitement. “We should think this over a little longer. He’s still an eldritch like Zoe and me. If he really is planning something then it’s best not to bother with it. He’s beyond old enough to know what he’s doing.”

Thinking back to when Oz carried the drunk Damien home, he wasn’t allowed to shadow jump. Something about someone messing with the entries into the afterlife and too many humans going too early. Did that have something to do with him?

There was only one other person Oz knew who he could ask about this: Milo.

“Why don’t we ask around first?” Oz suggested. “Instead of just jumping in blindly.”

“Hmm,” Damien stopped resisting and stood still. “Fine. Let’s go with that. But the second he starts causing trouble around here I’m hunting him down.”

“Okay,” Oz nodded. He didn’t expect to stop Damien completely. This alone would be good enough. After all, Oz had a similar idea to go find him if he really was planning to start something here.

“So what? Do we just go around asking people?”

“Pretty much. Just ask them if they’ve ever seen a glowing dude in the woods,” Oz looked down at the orb beside him. “I already have a couple of ideas of who to ask.”

“...Does that orb have anything to do with it too?”

Oz was startled when Damien had somehow gotten so close to him. He was poking at the orb.

“Uh, n-no?” Oz frantically shook his head and pulled the orb away from Damien. “L-like I said, i-it’s just a gift! A-and a lamp.”

Damien didn’t look convinced. “You’re stuttering.”

“I-I stutter all the time.”

“True,” Damien acknowledged. “But that’s usually because you get easily nervous.”

“Uh,” Oz rubbed the back of his neck. “N-no?”

Damien sighed.

“Fine, be that way. I’ll find out eventually,” Damien started making his way towards the door. “I’m pretty sure it has something to do with him anyway.”

When did Damien get so shrewd?

“Oh right,” Damien stopped in front of the door. “What’s his name?”

“W-whose name?”

“The glow stick. The one we were just talking about?”

“Ah,” Oz looked up and thought hard. It’d been a couple of decades since he last saw him and he may have changed his name again. He tended to do that to fit the generation. But the trend in names hasn’t changed much. “Last I remember,” There was one name he always resorted to. It was the one he and Oz picked together that he used often even when he changed it. It was… “Felix. That’s his name.”

—

After Oz told Damien about Felix, he charged out of the camp HQ. Only Satan knows where he went. Knowing him, he probably just planned to run around camp until he found someone to ask. But for some reason, Damien seemed more, how to put it… smart? Intuitive? Something about him seemed a little different than the normal chaotic personality Oz was used to.

Oz figured it was about time to wrap up his crosswords too. He should have done this early but Oz tried to throw the orb into the void. He opened its black hole and attempted to place it inside. But, for some reason, no matter how far he tried to place it, its glow never dimmed making it impossible to hide it. As if it was right in front of the opening, it created a completely white circle of light in the middle of his perfectly back void. Not even a dot but a medium-sized circle in the middle of the dark opening.

This of course made it impossible to hide. In fact, it would probably be better hidden in a normal drawer or closet than in his void. He used it too often for people not to notice a glowing circle in his normally pitch-black void.

Oz sighed.

He was half expecting something like this to happen. Felix and Oz are practically opposites. Fear was hand in hand with despair which conflicted with joy. Sure Felix and Oz may have had a close connection once, but these characteristics of them clashed too much to not notice. In the end, what happened in the past was left in the past.

“I wonder who I should ask first,” Oz chucked the tower of crosswords into the void. “Aaravi and Milo are my main candidates but Aaravi probably doesn’t think so highly of me right now.” Oz slowly lifted himself off the bean bag and stretched his arms.

A part of him begged to know if Felix really was out in the woods. Instead of asking around, it seemed more appealing to just storm the woods and look for him. Oz didn’t need to be cautious like Damien but he did need to be careful. So in that aspect, maybe being reckless wasn’t a good idea. He should just take his own advice and be careful about it. If it wasn’t Felix then they’d be wasting their time. If it was Felix then he might be doing something even Oz isn’t allowed to meddle in. Felix has never harmed purposefully so there would be no reason to start now.

“Speaking of,” Oz cut off his train of thought. “I need to find a different hunting ground now.” He gripped at the side of his cheeks; pulling them down in frustration. “It shouldn’t be hard but it’ll be annoying.”

Two Phobias on Oz’s shoulder squeaked.

“Yes, I know what I said earlier. Me being confident and all that,” Oz pouted. “But honestly, this sucks.”

The Phobias sighed and plopped back into his skin with a squelch.

“I might be able to get away with the spot I used in Spooky High. But,” Oz’s brain was practically fried. Felix’s presence stressed him out more than he wants to admit. “Maybe by the bar? No. Those posters might have been because of him. Be smart Oz.” He fumbled with place after place not wanting to go abroad. “How about…no. Is it too close? A little… oh!” As if a switch flipped in his mind, the most obvious yet perfect place shoved its way into his head. “Hell!”

Hell was vast and had nine circles in total. Each had its own environment to torture its souls. Opening portals there seemed to be banned so there’s a chance that Felix is also having trouble going there. If Oz didn’t know there was another way in and out then Felix might not know too. Even if he did, what are the chances they’ll meet in the same circle?

“If it’s Hell then the Seventh Circle could work,” Oz felt incredibly satisfied with his idea. The Seventh Circle is violent beyond violent. The entire circle is exactly what one would think hell would be like. As much fun as the Eight Circle is, it’s more of a vacation spot than a city of torture. That alone might be why Dahlia and Damien are so different.

“It’s practically fear galore over there,” Unbeknownst to Oz, he was still standing awkwardly by the door drooling over the thought. “Why haven’t I bothered to go yet? I can’t remember.”

“Yo, Oz!”

He whipped his head around, startled.

“P-Polly.”

“Watcha up to? You’ve been standing here like an idiot for a while now,” Polly giggled. “You high or something? It’d be funny if you were.”

“I-”

“Pft, say something that makes sense,” Amira stood behind Polly rolling her eyes. “It would take a coke pile the size of Mt. Everest to get Oz high.”

Was there even that much in the entire world?

“We could make it!” Polly exclaimed. Could she read what I said? “Totally!” A coincidence… has to be.

“Why would you even bother?” Amira shook her head. “I’ve never seen Oz get drunk, high, or get affected by any drug. I’ve tried and it’s a waste of time.”

“You… you’ve tried?” This was news to Oz.

“Opps,” Amira shrugged. “No?.. Okay so maybe like once or twice… twenty times? Did you expect me not to?”

“Kinda, yeah.”

“My bad.”

“So are we gonna make a coke mountain or what?” Polly asked, way too exuberant about the idea.

“No,” Oz and Amira said together.

“Ehhh~”

“Ms. Polly, Ms. Rashid!” Ms. Weaving poked her head from out of her office. “Leave at once or I drag you back in here! Punishments starting tomorrow will be much more dire! Perhaps you will start using your loud mouths with more care when you are separated for a while.”

“Y-yes!” Amira shouted. She hadn’t turned around to face her but Amira’s body went completely stiff.

“You can’t take my mouth!” Polly argued stubbornly, facing Ms. Weaving directly.

“Oh I bet I could,” Ms. Weaving reassured, smiling.

“Polly!” Amira whispered sharply. “Stop! Let’s just go.”

“What? But–”

Amira cut her off.

“Sorry, Ms. Weavings! We’ll leave!”

Amira forcefully dragged Polly out. It didn’t work at first since her hands just slipped right through but Polly seemed to get the message and just followed Amira’s lead.

“Mr. Oz.”

“Yes?” Based on Amira’s reaction, hearing his name get called made him nervous. Did he do something wrong? Actually, when has he done something right?

“Will you be leaving your odd lamp here?”

Oz looked back to the bean bag. Nestled in the middle was the orb.

“Oh! T-Thank you. I must have got distracted,” Oz frantically ran towards it, hugging it to his chest. “H-have a good day Ms. Weaving!” He shouted, stumbling towards the door and closing it shut before she could respond. It was an embarrassing moment, at least just a tiny bit.

—

Amira and Polly weren’t outside. They probably went to find everyone else in the Dome. It was getting late and everyone would be by the campfire in a few hours. Oz could talk to Milo then and hopefully Aaravi too (hopefully).

Oz wouldn’t have to hunt until the end of the week, so assuming he would find enough information about Felix before then: he would be fine.

Oz clutched onto the orb and awkwardly fiddled with it trying to hide it. He didn’t like how bright his void looked when it was inside so he refused to put it back. It was like it no longer belonged to him and that made him a little pissed.

“I think it looks hidden here… sorta.”

Oz placed it between his waist and arm, stretching his skin around it to try and dull the glow. It didn’t really work since the light still seeped through but it would do… probably.

Oz quickly made his way to his tent. He didn’t have a tentmate yet so he wouldn’t have to worry as much until then.

“That should do it.”

He placed it in the far corner of his tent with pillows covering it. They were white so the light didn’t look as obvious. Plus, for some reason, the orb didn’t shine as brightly as it did touching Oz or in his void.

“Evening Oz!” A voice called from the opening of the tent.

Oz almost fell over his feet trying to turn around and hide the mound of pillows at the same time.

“M-Moss,” Oz stuttered, regaining his bearings. “Uh, w-what are you doing here?”

“I got curious,” Moss Mann moved closer inside the tent.

“S-stop!” Oz put his hands out. “T-there’s nothing interesting here.”

“Oh? Well, I guess I can figure that out myself.” His eyes might as well have been lasers with how quickly he locked focus on the pillows behind Oz. Moss’ eyes were shining with scary curiosity and spoke of trouble.

“N-no need,” Oz shook his head frantically playing goally with the pillows.

“Oh come on~ Show me the gossip!” Moss Mann lunged towards the stack and grabbed deep inside the pile. “Ah-ha!”

“Uh, no! No ‘ah-ha!’ Put it back and get amnesia!” Oz tried to swipe for it but Moss Mann was too quick.

“Now what is this?”

Moss hunched over the orb, closely inspecting it.

“N-nothing,” Oz said, avoiding eye contact.

“Hmm…”

“J-just stop–”

CRACK! A zigzag fracture ruptured its surface.

“Ah, it broke.”

Oz snapped his head up. “WHAT!”

Chapter Text

“What do you mean it broke?!” Oz shouted, running to Moss’s side. “You must be kidding…” He grabbed Moss Mann’s shoulder and pulled it back; trying to get a better view of the orb. As he had said, it cracked. Thankfully, not yet into two.

“I guess a broken orb isn't very intriguing is it?” Moss sighed.

“I would be a lot more irked by you if it had broken into pieces,” Oz groaned, snatching the orb away from the gossip-obsessed moth. “To be honest, I have no idea what this is and frankly, I didn’t really think anything would come of keeping it either. If anything, this’ll be nothing but paperweight or an odd lamp.” Oz rolled the orb in his palms. Under his breath, he muttered, “But still, if it has something to do with Felix then it’s worth looking into.”

The long, fluffy antennas on his head twitched. “Oh?” Moss Mann loomed over Oz, his large wings expanding like a blanket. “Felix? And who might that be?”

“A guy,” Oz responded plainly. “So, what kind of gossip would you like to hear?”

He may have only encountered him a few times but Oz was already easing into dealing with Moss. If he didn’t want to tell him something he just had to distract him with something else.

“Hmm,” Moss’s red eyes creased up. “Not a terrible suggestion. What do you have in mind?”

Moss Mann can’t keep a secret. In fact, Oz can’t even be sure Moss knows what a secret means. In any other situation, this might be a bad thing. But, say you needed people to know something. Better yet, notice something.

“I heard someone spotted a glowing man in the forest. They wore a white tuxedo and were found wandering around early midnight. Sounds pretty weird huh?” Oz grinned. Even without a mouth, it was easy to tell how smug he was.

“A glowing man…” Moss Mann tapped his chin. “Yes! What wonderful gossip!” His red eyes lit up and he was practically prancing in place. “Thank you for the wonderful insight. I shall be off!” Moss ran out of the tent; almost crashing into the fireplace as a dust cloud emerged from his sharp turn.

“Well that was easy,” Oz huffed. “Now, what should I do with this broken orb? I can’t fix it so I guess there isn’t much to do.”

Oz lugged it back to the corner which was where he was planning on putting it a while ago until a certain nosy, rip-off of Moth Man came by. He thought of recovering it with the pillows, but Moss showed that it obviously wasn’t a very good idea. Oz still didn’t like the idea of his Void being affected by the orb so he stubbornly took that off the table. Another option was to bury it. Maybe behind his tent. Out in the forest, behind a tree or stump. Far out so no one could find it–

Oh, A thought popped into his head.

“If I use it as bait, would Felix come and find it?” It was an obvious plan and there was a very high probability that Felix wouldn’t even give it a glance. But, he had a few hours before everyone rounded up by the campfire. He didn’t have to do it all in one day but if he could it would lessen his stress. Getting it done sooner than later would be better.

“It’s Felix so this might not work. Even so,” Oz glanced down at the cracked orb. He chuckled, smiling mischievously. “This is kinda fun.”

—

Oz shadow jumped to the forest, not wanting anyone to follow him. He found Damien pretty deep in the forest so that might be the best place to put it. If Milo and Damien were running away from Felix then he must have been even farther in. Although curious, Oz wasn’t ready to find out yet. For now, as long as he could find out that it wasn’t anything dangerous, then it was fine.

I’ll leave a few of my Phobias beside the orb to notify me, Oz planned, shifting from shadow to shadow, deeper into the forest. Hopefully Felix doesn’t somehow bribe them not to tell me.

A riot of Phobias screeched at him through the Void as he shadow jumped.

“What? Are you telling me you wouldn’t fall for it?” Oz probed.

The Phobias went silent.

“Yeah, thought so,” Oz scoffed.

They grumbled, melting back into the Void.

It only took Oz a few seconds before he was well into the forest. The sunset through the trees created maple-colored blankets of sunshine. Oz couldn’t decide if placing it in a clearing was better or less conspicuously by a tree so it looks like something discarded instead of a blatant trap. He ended up going with the latter.

Oz quickly placed the orb by the tree’s roots and planted his Phobias in the shadows nearby. Swiftly, Oz dropped back into a shadow and only poked his head out a little bit so he wasn’t too noticeable but still able to see. Like a fish popping its head out of water, Oz was popping his head out of a shadow.

He didn’t know how long he would have to wait, but he hoped it wouldn’t be long. He knew that was only hopeful thinking though.

But, amidst the quiet of the forest, he hears a rustle. Then a snap of rouge branches. Oz gulps, holding his breath in anticipation. Whatever it is, it’s coming closer. Closer, closer, closer, until—bam! It’s!.. A bunny. A plain fucking bunny.

Oz sighed. “Knew it.”

Oz was way too stiff and anxious. It has been more than an hour and he still bobs up and down in the shadow, waiting for the stupid glowstick-man. Every little noise made him flinch and ready himself for inevitable disappointment. Despite him knowing Felix wouldn’t come that soon, a part of him never doubted that he might.

Should I just go? Oz considered. This obviously isn’t going to happen today… Agh! But I'll die if he shows up the second I leave! He bounded his thoughts up and down. He wanted to leave but his conscience wouldn’t let him. Unknowingly, Oz had already committed to it whether he liked it or not.

“Where are you?” Oz whispered.

“Yes, where am I Oz?”

Oz whizzed his head around. It happened so fast, the sound of him turning his head whooshed like a sword. His surprise was just as fast. Going from calm to shock in an instance.

“F-Felix?!” Oz jumped out of the shadow, taking several steps back. “W-what’re you… W-why’re you… Hello?”

“Hello,” Felix smiled. “It’s been a while hasn’t it?”

As Damien said, Felix was bright, glowing in a brilliant luminescent light. He was so contrasting to the ever-growing-darker forest and especially to Oz. His eyes were beautiful as they’ve always been. Golden yellow, a hue and color which astounded you no matter how long you look. In every way, Felix looked like an angel.

“Y-yes,” Oz nodded, his posture stiffening. “I was looking for you.”

“I noticed,” Felix’s gaze wandered to the orb Oz placed by the tree. “I see you tried to use a very common tactic.”

Oz’s face reddened. For some reason, it made him embarrassed to not only get caught but get called out for using such a childish plan even mortals think is basic. In the event that it worked, he wouldn’t feel as shameful as he does now.

“So, now that you’ve, ahem, ‘caught’ me,” Felix sauntered closer. “What do you plan to do?”

“W-well I,” Oz stuttered. Seeing Felix again was more awkward than he thought. “I… umm, I wasn’t going to do anything to you. I-I just wanted to ask you something.”

“And you couldn't just find me normally because?” Felix raised a brow. It gave Oz a sneaking suspicion that he was being teased.

“Uh, well,” Oz fiddled with his thumbs. “When you say it like that it really does sound stupid…”

Oz didn’t think it was a bad idea before but, now that Felix said it, somehow it seems unreasonable and rash. Perhaps Oz is more of an idiot than he thought.

Felix chuckled. “Does it now?”

“...Yes,” Oz shook his head. “A-anyway, what’re you doing here? You aren’t hunting… right?”

“Hunting?” Felix said, incredulous. “What gave you the idea I was hunting this early in the Month? I’m not so starved and glutinous that I would do it this soon.”

Oz stared, trying his best not to be too suspicious.

“I-I see… So then, why are you here?” Oz asked, his stare growing sharper. “You aren’t the type to stir up trouble but, I wouldn’t put it past you. I-I haven’t forgotten what happened back then.”

“Aww, that’s too bad,” Felix pouted. “Give me a free pass for being an old friend. We used to hang out a lot before then. If you haven’t forgotten that, then I’m sure you haven’t forgotten all the time we spent together–”

“That’s enough,” Oz interjected, a grimace on his face. His voice was cold and stern. If anyone else saw him like this, they might have a hard time believing it was Oz. It may have been childish, but every time that part of his past was brought up, Oz would do anything to throw it out of the conversation. “What happens in the past stays in the past. It has nothing to do with the present.”

“Hmm,” Felix smiled, not unkindly. “We both know that isn’t true.”

“Do we?” Oz retorted swiftly. “I don’t think we do,” He crossed his arms. Oz was finding it incredibly irritating how Felix wouldn’t let it go. There were things that happened during that time that were better left to be forgotten.

“Oh, mad? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you be petty like this.”

“Petty–!”

Felix lifted his hands in surrender.

“I’ll stop. Aren’t you curious as to why I’m here? Wasn’t that the whole reason you tracked me down?”

“...” Oz breathed a heavy sigh. He tried his best to calm his nerves. “Yes, so why? Tell me.”

“It is truly amazing just how cold you are when you’re mad. You don’t even stutter once,” Felix chuckled, not lowering his hands.

“Talk,” Oz prompted. “Now.”

“Yes, yes,” Felix huffed. “You do know of what I feed on right? Or, more specifically, what it is?”

“Yes,” Oz answered. He was getting impatient. Funny how he was so willing to wait for Felix and now he wanted nothing more than to throw this man across the entire continent so Oz would never see him again. He had almost blissfully forgotten how irritable he can be. He wasn’t before, but after the incident, Felix changed.

“The full extent?”

“Yes? What more is there?”

“I guess you never found out.”

“Found out about what?” Oz was growing impatient. “Just say it.”

“I feel like you’re only like this to me,” Felix frowned.

“Speak,” Oz hissed.

“My sustenance changed Oz,” Felix’s voice grew into a deep whisper. “I don’t feed on satisfaction and joy anymore.”

Chapter Text

“I don’t feed on satisfaction and joy anymore.”

Oz's eyes widened, unsure if he heard right.

“...What?” Forgetting his hostility, curiosity took over. Oz started to make his way closer to Felix. “What do you mean? What does that mean!”

“Don’t tell me you forgot what happened,” Felix let Oz come closer; staring down at him. “Did you really think there would be no consequences? None at all? I didn’t think you were so naive Oz.”

“Naive—” Oz scoffed. “I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to and you have the nerve—!”

“If you remember then why are you surprised?” The undisturbed tone in his voice was unnatural. As if he were talking about the weather, Felix didn’t look the least bit affected. How?

“If this really happened because of back then, why have you just now begun to cause trouble? Why not decades ago? A millennium?”

“Who says I’ve only just started? You don’t travel as much anymore so it’s no wonder you’re so clueless.”

Oz paused, soaking the information in. There was no time to stutter and panic as he does. This is real. This isn’t some stupid problem at school, this was a problem within his kind. Anything that had to do with the Embodiments meant emotions. If an embodiment dies, that means that emotion no longer exists. And if an embodiment changes sustenance, that means one thing: they killed that embodiment and took their place.

Oz figured the former would happen back then. But, in truth, he was never told the full story of what happened. Only recently has there been a long list of embodiments. As mortal emotions grow more complicated, more come into existence. As Oz is FEAR, others may be MELANCHOLY or DISTRESS. Although Oz can feed on the fundamental versions, the more complex ones need another embodiment.

In some cases, a modern embodiment (the name of the younger embodiments) can replace an older one. When fundamental emotions can no longer be fully expressed as just sad or angry, they are replaced and therefore disappear.

Oz thought that when Lucy, the modern embodiment of DELIGHTED, was born she would be a less powerful embodiment like most of her generation. However, he couldn’t be more wrong. Oz underestimated the many versions of delight she could feed on. Much like how Felix can feed on different versions of satisfaction like sex or eating ice cream, she can do much of the same. Mortals like Damien push this emotion even further.

Monsters like Vera and Damien are all about doing what delights them. Whether that means killing one person or a thousand, they do it without hesitation. More and more people of this mindset were created making Lucy much more powerful than Oz thought.

This alone should tell you one thing: Felix wasn’t that far from being replaced. Oz saw it every time they saw each other. He looked paler and paler every day. He grew skinny and his face sunk so low he may have been mistaken for a glowing skeleton. But even his glow was becoming faint. It was so obvious that he would die soon. Many of the embodiments who respected Felix became warry of Lucy and tried to stop her. So they got livid with her; calling her out for not knowing her place. Even Oz had once done the same.

But everyone knew they were just delaying the inevitable. It wasn’t Lucy’s fault. She couldn’t control the emotions of the new generation.

It was on the last day of the twentieth year, since Lucy was born, that Oz and Felix met for one last time. They had planned to spend Felix’s last moments together by the hillside they first came to when Earth was created. It would be in honor of their friendship.

But, on that day, Felix didn’t come. Oz sat on that hill for hours, watching the sunrise and then fall. At sunset, Oz finally sat up and tried to look for him. He shadow-jumped around the trees and into alleyways by the nearby city. He frantically searched everywhere, the entire country in fact, but he couldn’t find him. It wasn’t until midnight that Oz realized Felix might have already died. It hurt to know that Felix spent his last moments alone. Without a friend and so suddenly.

Oz never knew the sadness of a dear friend like this. None were ever as close as Felix was. Oz remembers trembling, trying to control himself in a dark corner of the city, weeping and screaming. No one ever stopped to give him a glance as he faded into the shadows. He’d never interacted with mortals as much as he did that day. He only even bothered to look at them when hunting. But that night, as Oz lost himself in what he could only call mournful, a young man dropped beside him. They were the first to see him.

“What are you doing here?” They smiled, sitting beside him on the ground. The shadows around Oz were growing violent and he even began to melt into them. But they didn’t seem to care nor maybe even notice.

Oz’s mouth gaped wide, his jaw slicing half of his face.

“W̵̖͖̓̿͋̈́̏̆͊͗͆̂̉͐̚̕ͅh̸̢̢̛̰͕̫̻̘̤̟̟̘̳̠̘̻̋̈́̀̒̈́̿̀͒̆̽̀͆̔͠ͅo̷̡̖̼̦̻̦̣͖̫̓̏̈̽͜ ̴̯͔̤̮̲̞͉̗̮̗̐̂̀͗̇̅̄̉͗̌̀͒̋͆̕a̴̢̛͈͈̦̳̭̭̋̽̈́͂̇̈̓̄͋̓̀̀̉̐̚͜͠r̵̨̢̯̱͔̣̣̥͉̰̦̪̥̱̱̄́̈̈̎̽̑̍̉̄̑́͛͗͑̆̕ͅḙ̶̡̡̨̢̤̬͈͚̘̲̭̝͓̞͎͑͛́̔̍̇̋̈́̈́̈́̒̑̋ ̴͈̳̠̪̱̜̳̗̥̠̖̘̰͉͇̔͂̌̑y̶̨̢͖͍̲̜̜̭̤͔̙͆́ͅo̵̞̬̪̺̳̜̝͎͈͈̒͒͋͛̒̉̚ư̴̢̭̭̥̹̝̤͚̣̱͇̩̙̺͓̬͔͗́̐̃͒́̓͒̉́͘͘͠͠?̸̧̱̥͚͔̮͉̯̟̩̳̣̪̎͂̓̂̔͑͝” Oz’s voice distorted his words.

“Whoa,” He scooted a little farther. “Damn, that’s a voice. Umm, maybe don’t do that.”

Oz tilted his head but conceded. Oz nodded, closing his jaw back up. It was the first time he tried talking in the mortal’s language. Only Felix and some others bothered to talk to them often. He figured it might sound weird on his first try.

“I’ll answer your question if you can figure out how to talk without that glitch.” The boy grinned. This particular mortal looked off. Even though Oz was on the monster side of the world, they looked human. How were they still alive?

Oz was unimpressed. Seeing a mortal try and order him around wasn’t the least bit amusing. But, it would be worth it to try. Not that he was letting a mortal tell him what to do. He just had a similar idea.

How did those without a mouth talk? Sign language? Writing? Oz’s head buzzed. Ah, what about telepathy? How does it work?

C-can you hear me? Oz tried to focus his thought on the boy beside him. He imagined it going to him somehow. As if his thoughts flew right into his head and invaded the poor guy’s mind.

The boy stared at him blankly, not saying a thing. Clearly, he didn’t hear anything.

Hello! Oz raised the volume just a bit. Maybe it was because he said it too quietly.

Still nothing.

“NOW?!” Oz was now yelling. It was weird to say your own thoughts loudly. It felt like he was straining his brain cells to make a sound without actually moving his mouth. Like he was pulling and twisting strings in his head to create a sound.

“Ah!” The boy grabbed at his ears, clutching them closed. His head turned down as he slumped his body down. “Stop that! It’s ringing!”

Oz paused, concerned for the boy as he frantically tried to hold him still to ease his pain.

So too loud isn’t good either. Maybe that feeling of straining his thoughts was all he needed. That feeling of controlling those strings.

But before Oz tried again, he waited for the boy to settle back down. He didn’t want to do the same thing again without break. The boy sat back down beside Oz, rubbing the sides of his ears and massaging his temples. It must have given him a headache.

“Okay,” The boy sighed. “Try one more time, but, not so loud. Okay?”

Oz nodded.

He took a deep breath and concentrated on his mind.

“H-hello?”

“Yes!” The boy shouted, grinning. “It didn’t ring this time! Before it sounded like a terrible screech but now it’s more mellow and I could hear you clearly!”

“T-that’s good,” Oz felt proud of himself. It’s been a while since he did something new. In his many, many years of being alive, there’s only so much you can do before you’ve done it all. After all, you have to pass the time somehow.

“You’re stuttering,” The boy frowned. “Do I make you uncomfortable? I apologize if I came off too strongly.”

“O-oh no,” Oz shook his head. “I-I’m just afraid I-I might hurt you again.”

“Hmm,” He tapped his chin. “I guess I wouldn’t want that happening again. Thank you.” The boy smiled.

This young man’s smile was contagious. It almost made Oz grin stupidly. How long has it been since he’s felt like this? When he first came to Earth? When he first met Felix? How ironic that the saddest day of his life was mixed with possibly the warmest moment in his life. What would Felix say if he saw this?

“So, to answer your question from before,” He pointed his thumb to the left. It motioned towards the end of the alleyway and across the street. “I work over there as a waiter. My names’ Sam. Nice to meet you.”

“N-nice to meet you, Sam,” Oz replied. “I-I’m Oz.”

“And Oz, what were you doing here? I could barely see you with how well your body blends into the shadows. But, your white eyes gave it away…” Sam looked him up and down. “Are… I don’t know if it’s rude to ask but are you wearing clothes?”

“C-clothes?” Oz tilted his head. “T-the invention created by mortals to cover one’s body?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“I-I have no need for them. I-I don’t converse with monsters like you very often. M-most don’t even notice me anyway. Y-you are the first to see me in many decades.”

Oz wondered if the reason Sam wasn’t scared of Oz was because he couldn’t see them. If he could, they would be having a different conversation right now. The fact that he could sit next to Oz without worrying meant he couldn’t see the overwhelming shadows surrounding him. It was only Oz, or maybe, the glow in Oz’s eyes that he could see. That alone was impressive for a mortal.

“I guess so. You look like a blob of darkness with two eyes. I’ve never seen a monster like you before.”

“T-that is probably because I am not a monster.”

“What?” Sam’s eyes lit up. A confusing hope seemed to light a bulb in his mind. “So then, are you—”

“O-or I should be more specific. I-I am a monster but also not a mortal. I-I’m not human or a monster. T-though I suppose I could be argued for the former.” Oz explained.

“Oh…” Any hope left dribbled out of Sam. Why it even started was beyond Oz.

“Y–you seem disappointed. W-were you hoping for something in particular?” Oz probed. Perhaps it had something to do with his ability to see him and why he reminds Oz of a human. After all, there’s no way Sam is an actual human.

“Haha, you caught me,” Sam chuckled gingerly. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing important.”

Oz lifted a brow but he didn’t say anything. People had secrets and Oz wasn’t the type to force them out. He would be a hypocrite if he did.

“I-I see.”

“You aren’t curious?”

“N-no,” Oz had no reason to question mortals. They have always been too complicated to understand anyway.

“…” Sam heaved a sigh, his body relaxing. “That’s good.”

Oz stared, examining Sam’s every action. Even though he didn’t care for his secrets or problems, there was a part of him that felt relaxed sitting here with him. It was like an instinct to lose hostility and dilute into a soft calmness. It was weird how immediate it felt.

“You know, if you ever get like this again, you're free to drink away your worries at my family’s bar.”

“D-drink away worries?” Oz puzzled. He had heard that mortals tend to frequent bars when in terrible moods but he’s never actually seen how they do it. Was alcohol the reason?

“Yeah, have you ever had beer?”

“B-beer,” Oz thought hard.

“Yeah, like an alcoholic beverage?”

“I-I don’t think so,” Oz shook his head. He couldn’t recall a time when he’d ever tried it. He never needed to nor wanted to.

“Oh shoot, are you even old enough?” Oz could hear a little panic in Sam’s voice. It would be hard to tell Oz’s age if he only looked like a black blob to him.

“I-I am,” Oz wasn’t sure how old one had to be to drink “beer” but he supposed “older than time” is old enough.

“Thank god. I thought I was promoting alcohol to someone under 21 or something.”

Good thing Oz is 2.1 x 10∞ years old.

“Hey, why don’t we go over there right now?” Sam suggested. He seemed pretty eager to get him to drink. Maybe it was more fun than Oz thought.

“S-sure.”

—

When Oz and Sam got to the bar, it was crowded and noisy. Oz wasn’t so keen on the idea of being around such a large group of mortals, but the idea of drinking for the first time took over his actions. Doing something so new after decades of the same old stuff was definitely worth the time.

“Do you know *hic* how surprised I was when you *hic* stood up?” Sam laughed, pouring another fill into his cup. “You had no clothes *hic* on!”

Sam had grabbed a table for the two of them and started ordering drinks. He explained every beverage with excruciating detail; even the details which were probably meaningless. Sam ordered so much beer that Oz thought he was planning on making a tub of it.

Sam must be a heavy drinker… Or not. They were only two bottles in and he was already drunk.

“Y-you already mentioned that earlier, Sam. I-I even had to change my form to meet this occasion.” Oz held a glass in his hands; taking a swig every now and then. “I-I don’t involve myself with mortals often.”

Oz sat in clothes for the first time. They were clothes he snagged from his last hunt: a plain white t-shirt and blue ripped jeans. They were from an ignorant teen who found himself face-to-face with the embodiment of fear (aka Oz). Poor thing didn’t even see him coming.

“I-I forgot clothing was important here.”

“Of course it *hic* is! What’dya think I’m wearing *hic* right now? Fabric?” Sam chuckled as if it were the funniest joke he ever made.

“I-is it not fabric? A-are clothes not made of fabric?”

“Hey!” Sam pointed a finger; mildly startling Oz. “You don’t *hic* look drunk? Why aren’t you *hic* drunk?”

“P-perhaps it is not effective enough for me. I-I am a superior being after all.”

“Who would’ve thought *hic* that you weren’t a blob.” Sam looked him up and down. “I was so sure that *hic* you were just a big, black blob. Do you *hic* always look like this?”

Oz shook his head. “N-no. I-I created this form a long time ago to lure my prey closer. I-I’ve never actually had to talk to them though.”

“Eh? Why would you talk to your *hic* prey?”

“B-because they're human.”

Sam went silent. He stopped mid-sip and gaped at Oz.

“Haha, good *hic* joke.”

“I-It is not a joke,” Oz responded, clearly analyzing Sam’s reactions. “E-even though to hunt humans you would need to illegally go to the other side, I have ways of entering.” There was little an Embodiment of Emotion couldn’t do.

“Oh…”

The mood could not have been more awkward and for possibly no reason at all. Why was Sam so disturbed at Oz hunting humans? Wouldn’t most monsters be ecstatic at the idea and immediately ask how or where he hunts? Did he pity humans? For what reason? Was his lover a human? Is he… a human?

“Here’s your second round of beer! Enjoy!”

Could he truly be a hu–

“Wow, you two have really drunk a lot, huh? Yet, Sam’s little friend here doesn’t even look the least bit drunk!”

Oi! Read the room! They were having a moment! An awkward moment but a moment nonetheless! Leave! Scurry! Begone!

“Y-yeah *hic*,” Sam couldn’t make eye contact with Oz. For some reason, he was avoiding his gaze. “I’ll be getting *hic* drop-dead-drunk this time!” Oz could tell he was trying to lighten the mood. But, Oz had no intention of letting him go unnoticed.

“S-Sam, what monster are you?”

Sometimes this question could be very rude. But in this instance, it could be overlooked—

“What monster is he? You making fun of him for drinking so little?” The waitress grinned.

Could you stop interrupting like this?

“He may not be able to drink much but he can make a mean cocktail.”

…

“Y-yep! I’m pretty *hic* good! So maybe we should talk *hic* about that instead!” Sam laughed awkwardly. It was painfully obvious how much he wanted to avoid the topic.

“What? What were you guys talking about earlier?”

“O-oh, it was nothing Ms. Abigail,” Oz dismissed.

Ms. Abigail was a sturdy-looking woman. She looked like a boulder demon with pads of rocks mounted on her shoulders and minerals on the curve of her face. Seeing a boulder demon in a bar wasn’t very common. She must be very controlled to be able to hold glasses without breaking them. Although, she could work on speaking in turn…

“Doesn’t seem like nothing but I’ll let it slide.” Ms. Abigail gave an affectionate slap on Sam’s back before walking off with their empty bottles. “Make sure not to go overboard!”

There wasn’t any gentle way Oz could approach this. If there was one, he didn’t know enough about mortals to commence that act of sincerity. Instead, straight to the point without sugarcoating a thing. He wanted answers and he was going to get them.

“Sam…” Oz said softly, “Are you human?”