Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Wolf and Centross will have blaze power right? Said Rae to himself rummaging through all the chests, pulling odd bits out and leaving the latches on them slightly loose.

"Ah there they are" Spoke Rae after a few minutes of looking. They were tucked away in the corner of the storage net to a few other nether related items. Rae shoved some of them into his pockets and went toward the back entrance since it was quicker to get out.

In Front of him he saw the bloodrift. He found it strange that such a small portal could cause such great effects, both positive and negative.

After a while of staring at the blood magic he walked towards it, pushing through the branches which Wolf had built. There he stood in front of it. It looked so innocent since redstone was used rather than blood but the damage it could cause is unpredictable.

Rae just stood there.

He stared at the blood rift.

The blood rift stared back at him.

"No, it's a bad idea" He muttered before promptly walking away from the rift.

The thought stayed in his mind however. He could maybe find an answer of how to help Momboo. Or anything to do with Quixis. Faye had said that the other Icarus had the wack around them as well.

Raes' mind was spinning with thoughts. He pushed open the door to his house and headed downstairs to put the blaze power with the rest of the potion supplies. After that he ran up to the study. He needed to get a few books he left there since he was sorting out some of his notebooks.

Rae opened his enderchest to grab one of the books and saw inside the book to open the rift.

Rae stared back at the book, picking up in his right hand. All he did was look at the book, thought circling through his mind. After what felt like hours of thinking he closed the enderchest, shoved open the door of the study and ran back to Centross and Wolf's house.

He however did not see Aax, fishing by the pond.

He did not see that same olm follow him over to the portal.

He did not hear his boyfriend shout his name before he threw the book into the center and Rae was gone.

Chapter Text

Raylan was sitting down on the edge of the water, next to Bucket, a cat with a larger amount of fluff than the actual cat. His feet were dangling in the water and a book with a quill was sat in his lap. The water was calm and to the right of him he could see objects shining from over by his brother's house.

"Raylan!" Shouted someone from down in the water.

"Hi Krit!" Spoke Raylan hoping down into the water and swimming over to his brother.
"I was going over to see Theo, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?" Asked the mer with a bleeding eye.
"Oh, that would be cool! I'll come!" Replied the mer with a purple scar
"Come on then!" said Krit, pulling Raylan away from both their house and passing along the coast.

They both swam through the ocean, swimming through many shoals of fish and brushing past the seagrass and coral. In Front of them a castle approached. It was on top of a small cliff face and had a dock leading up to the entrance.

Krit quickly ran inside shouting their friend's name through the corridors. Raylan stared in confusion at his brother but proceeded to come inside. He was unsure of where the other mer went so he decided to head right and through a door in front of him.

"Oh, it goes outside." Raylan said to himself. He wanted to see where it led to. He followed a path into a horse paddock and just beyond that he saw a strange structure with glowing lights.

Raylan walked up to it, unsure of what it was. There was a book next to it. He picked it up and scanned over the front cover. He kept the book in his hand as he walked into the middle of the structure. He thought it looked rather out of place and didn't know why Faye and Theo would have it in their backyard.

"Raylan, what are you doing!" Called a voice from behind him. In fear Raylan dropped the book in the centre of the circle. Faye and Nel stood there in shock and in an instant. Raylan was gone.

Chapter Text

Rae fell to his feet, toppling from side to side and trying to keep balance.

"Oh my goodness!" yelled a voice near him.
"Faye! Nel!" Shouted Rae, half surprised, half excited.
"Why are you here!" Replied Faye, who was just as shocked as Rae.
"I didn't think it would work!" Said Rae, running towards Faye and Nel and looking down at them both.
"Forgot how tall you were," said Nel, looking up at Rae. "But again, why are you here?!"

Rae mumbled to himself the answer as he did not want to worry them about why he was there.

"Rae, you can tell us why you're here." Spoke Faye calmly.
Rae looked down at his feet then back up at the 2 worried mers.
"Momboo got hurt by Quixis and I was hoping that other Icarus, Krit I think you said their name was, may have an idea..."

Faye didn't quite know what to say to comfort the tall man.

"Can I give you a hug?" Asked the mer with long golden hair.
"Yes... Yes please." Responded Rae.

They all embraced in a hug for a few moments before two other mers came outside.

"What the fuck?" Asked Theo, questioning what was going on in his backyard. His friend Krit stood there in confusion, wondering where his brother had gone.

"So Theo. This is Rae!" Said Faye, trying to make the bleak situation better.
"Your eye is bleeding just like Icarus's!" Said Rae, circling Krit. Rae looked in his pockets for field notes to write what he was finding down. "Wait, I don't have any of my notebooks!"
"When you go through the portal you come out with the other person's items." Spoke Faye looking over at her very worried brother.
"Oh... Right... Your aura is also similar to Icarus's!" Said Rae, again circling the Mer. "It's more lime than theirs!"
"Oh, you can also see auras? Like Raylan?" Asked Krit.
"If Raylan is other than me then yes, I'd suppose."
"Do you want to come inside?" Asked Theo.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Replied Rae.

As they were all heading inside a ding noise played every time someone stepped through the door.
“The door goes ding! Athena would love that!”
“Who's Athena?” Asked Theo, turning around to look at Rae.
“They're my nephew. Well actually they're my cousin but they see me as more of an uncle.”
“That's really sweet of them.” Responded Theo.

Inside the fortress was spacious, with a sofa on one side and bedrooms on the other. A staircase ran upstairs to a balcony and in front was a door leading back outside as well as a corridor leading elsewhere.

"It's really nice here," remarked Rae.
"Yeah! Theo built it!" Said Faye excitedly.
"Do you happen to have an empty book I can use?" Asked Rae.
"I should have some somewhere, I can go grab some." Said Nel before running down the corridor and disappearing down the bubble elevator.

A few minutes later Nel came running back with a small pile of books in his hands and dropped them at Rae's feet. He smiled up at Rae and pushed the pile towards him.

“Thanks Nel.” said Rae,” bending down to pick the books up. “Sorry for swapping your mind with Centross’s.”
“As long as everyone is okay now, that's all that really matters.” Responded the jellyfish.

Rae nodded to Nel and started scribbling down notes about what he had found already.

“You did what?!” Exclaimed Theo. “How’s that even possible!”
“It’s quite a long story, I’ll explain it later.” Responded the man with long hair.

Chapter Text

“Wha… where am I?!” Spoke Raylan, completely startled.
“Hey, it's okay,” said a very worried Aax.
“Uh… Who are you? And how did I get here?”
“I'm Aax. Don't worry you're safe.” He said looking up at the taller man. “I don't know much about this portal, it's probably best to ask Ocie.”
“I'm Raylan.” He said looking down at his feet.

At that moment Caspian came running over since he had also seen Aax and Rae run in this direction. He then stopped. He looked just as bewildered as the other two.

“Huh? Why do you look like Rae?” Asked the adventurer.
“Caspian, this is Raylan. I think this is another Rae.” Replied Aax
“Wait, you have the same name as my husband.” Said Raylan looking Caspian up and down. “You also look quite similar.
“Well that would make sense,” said the olm. “Rae is our boyfriend.”
“Wait…” Spoke Raylan, looking down at the rings on his finger and holding them close to him. “So you're both my husbands from… Wherever we are?”
“I guess we are.” Said Caspian looking from one boyfriend to the other boyfriend from a different world.

There was a moment of silence. Everyone was just as bewildered as the other.

“Wait, why do I have so many books in my pockets?” Asked Raylan. “And coffee?”
“Rae does a lot of research things, such as the end.” Replied Caspian.
“Oh… the end.” Said the tall man, looking down at his feet.
“Are you okay Raylan?” Asked Aax.
“Yeah… just not the greatest time with the end.” He said, still looking down at his feet.
“Don't worry about it. You're safe here.” Spoke Caspian, looking up at Raylan.
“How about we go back to our house, we have a spare room you can borrow for the time.” Suggested Aax.
“Yeah… yeah that would be nice.” Replied Raylan.

As they were heading over the field towards their house they ran into Athena, who was running around collecting flowers.

“Hi there!” Said Athena happily, throwing flowers to all 3 of them. “Wait a second. You're not Rae?”
“Athena, this is Raylan. Another Rae.” Spoke Caspian.
“Oh that's so cool!” Said Athena throwing yet more flowers at Raylan.
“You're just like my nephew Solaris.” Said Raylan smiling at Athena.
“Well maybe I'm another Solaris? I mean you are my uncle.” Suggested Athena before promptly giving the man a hug. Raylan hugged Athena back.

“I missed you.” Whispered Raylan.
“Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, anytime soon.” Replied the piglin.
“I need to restock the bakery. I’ll see you in a bit!” They said after a moment, before running into the distance.
“Do you want us to show you around town first or do you want to see our house?” Asked Caspian.
“Can I look around the town?” Replied Raylan.

After Raylan replied, Aax took Raylan’s hand and pulled him towards the sprawling buildings which were located around a small hill top. Raylan was fascinated by all the different businesses as well as the extent of all the books in the library. When Aax and Caspian tried to explain how they acquired the magic tattoos the tall man was very confused. They decided to move on from that fact and show him around starbarks.

“What happened to the tree?” Asked Raylan, looking up at the colourful glitches on the foliage.
“That’s a bit complicated to explain…” Replied Caspian before Aax continued to pull Raylan around the edge of the hill and back down to their house.

Chapter Text

“So you're saying that you swapped Centross's and Nel's mind because Ocie was unconscious?” Asked Theo, still very confused.
“That's pretty much it.” Replied Rae.
“You said you wanted to see the wack, as you called it?” Said Krit.
“Yeah, is that okay?” Rae requested.

Krit responded with a nod and walked out the fortress and onto the docks. When they went into the water a mer tail appeared, replacing their legs.

“Oh, I forgot this is the world where we're all mers.” Spoke Rae.

After that Rae hopped in the water as well. A purple to dark blue gradient tail formed with cyan stripes collecting on the edges. A few white, star-like, specks were dotted around and two fins were on the back which looked like his horns.

“Well this feels odd.” Said Rae laughing.
“Your tail looks so pretty though!” Replied Faye, joining them both in the water.

After that the 3 of them headed over to Krits house. Theo and Nel stayed back in the fortress as they both needed to work on some things.

“Well that's definitely wack.” Said Rae swimming towards Krits house.

After a while of looking around and writing down notes in the makeshift field notes Rae made the conclusion that there wasn't much difference from the wack back at home.

“Anything?” Asked Krit, looking at Rae.
“Nothing much different. Blocks changing from one thing to another. Unfortunately, I can’t read quixian so I’m not much help in that sector.” Replied Rae.

Krit nodded in response.

“Do you want me to show you around? Not sure how long you will be here for but there might as well be some things that you would want to see?” Suggested Krit.
“That would be nice.” Replied Rae before the two of them swam off along the coast. Faye had earlier travelled back home to check that the others were okay.

After Krit had shown Rae around the main places such as the tavern and a few other people's houses they headed back in the direction of a village, which Theo had apparently built up.

“It’s really peaceful here.” Remarked Rae, looking around.
“Most of the time it is. Other times it can get a bit more… complicated?” Replied Krit, unsure of how to word their response.

They both sat down under the now setting sun, looking up at the stars which were forming in the sky. Small fireflies buzzed around them, lighting up the surrounding area. What felt like minutes passed before both of them were asleep, atop a hill, on a blanket which had been left there. Rae loved how quiet it was here. He found it enjoyable that he could just leave his problems behind for an amount of time and not have to worry about fixing them the moment he woke. Rae wanted it to stay this way for as long as possible.

Chapter Text

Ocie opened up her enderchest to grab a few things out the bottom. She noticed that the penpal book was missing. Someone must be writing in it, she thought. Once the book returned she flicked it open to the last page.

“Why is Rae here?!” Said a message in quite messy handwriting, as if someone had written it quickly.
“What do you mean?!” Replied Ocie before throwing the book back into the chest.
“Rae is with Krit right now, he came through the portal and I'm assuming Raylan is with you somewhere!” Said the message again, in still messy handwriting.
“I’ll go check.” Answered Ocie before putting the book back into the chest and running out the house.

No one was out by the portal. Maybe they had headed over to town, thought Ocie, running along the path and towards Lodestar Grove. She ran into the library and the pawlour. No one was there. When she ran into the BnB she saw Athena restocking the supplies in the chests.

“Hi Ocie!” Said Athena cheerfully, “Are you okay? You look worried.”
“You haven’t happened to have seen Rae who isn’t quite Rae?” Asked the person with long golden hair.
“Oh I actually have! Raylan, he said his name was.” Replied the piglin.
“Do you know where they have gone?” Questioned the still out of breath fish.
“They went down to Raes house!” Said the pink haired.
“Thanks so much Athena!” Said Ocie, before running off down the stairs and towards Raes house.

In front of her she saw Aax and Raylan fishing on the docks, under the shade of a canopy.

“Ocie!” Aax shouted, seeing Ocie coming towards them.
“Hi Aax! Wait… Raylan, why are you here?” Asked Ocie.
“I don’t quite know… One moment I was outside Theo’s house, the next I was here.” Replied the tall man.
“Can you check that Rae is okay for me?” Asked Aax, looking up at Ocie.
“Of course Aax. I’m sure he will be fine. Last I heard, he was with Krit.”

Aax smiled back at Ocie before she turned, waved and ran back up towards Wolf and Centross’s house. Ocie didn’t know what to do about this. She had hoped that no one else would use the portal. When she got back to the house she reopened her enderchest.

“Can you ask Rae if he can come back as soon as possible and I’ll ask Raylan?” Wrote Ocie.
“Course!” Replied the book. “Most people are asleep right now but I’ll ask in the morning.”
“Thanks! Not many people sleep here,” wrote Ocie while giggling.
“Okay! Have a good night!” said the response.

Ocie closed the enderchest and headed down to the kitchen. She grabbed a glass of water before sitting down on the sofa next to Koda and Hope. The dogs wrapped themselves against Ocie while she sat with them. Ocie eventually dozed off, even though it was not intentional. The night was mostly peaceful, only the occasional sound of a bird outside or the odd sneeze coming from either Koda or Hope. All Ocie wanted was for Rae to come back.

Chapter Text

When Krit woke, they found themselves lying on the ground next to Rae, who was staring up at the now rising sun. It took Krit a moment to realise who they were with, and who this man who looked a lot like his brother was.

“Morning,” said a very sleepy Krit, looking over at Rae.
“Oh, morning,” responded Rae. “Did you sleep well?”
“Good thanks. You?”
“Very well” responded Rae. “For once” he mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” Asked Krit.
“Just saying I slept well.” Said Rae, smiling at Krit.

At that moment Faye came running over. She wasn't running very fast but she was going at such a speed that when she called Rae and Krits name they got slightly spooked.

“Rae! Krit!” Called Faye, as the two turned around.
“Hi Faye! How are you doing?” Asked Krit.
“Good. Rae I was wondering if you wanted to go back through the portal?” Requested Faye.
“I was hoping to stay a bit longer, if that's okay?” Suggested Rae.
“As long as it's not beyond the end of today, it will be okay.” Replied the mer with long golden hair.

Rae nodded in return before turning back around, shifting over and letting Faye sit next to both of them.

“It's peaceful. Isn't it?” Asked Rae, turning between the landscape and the fish.

Faye nodded in response before smiling over at Krit, who was looking at recently found things which they had found which shone in the morning light. Faye pulled out the pen pal book from her enderchest and flicked to the last page.

“Hopefully tonight,” Fays wrote before returning the book back. Krit saw her write this and hoped he would keep his word. As much as they liked Rae, they wanted their brother back.

Chapter Text

As Icarus woke, they were again welcomed by the changing wack. They wandered around their house noting down the different blocks which had changed. After that Icarus walked up towards the town center. On the way there, they ran into a worried looking Ocie.

"You okay Ocie?" Asked Icarus, walking towards Ocie.
"Yeah. Just wondering why Rae went through the blood rift…" Replied Ocie.
“He did what?!” Said Icarus, Worried for what they just heard.
“Oh right, you didn’t know,” said the fish, “I was just heading over to see if Raylan would go home tonight.”
“Okay. Is it okay if I come?” Asked Ick.
“Sure!” Replied Ocie.

They both headed over to where Raylan was staying, in the spare room at Raes house. They both knocked on the door and were greeted by a sleepy looking Caspian.

“Oh hi,” said the traveller, opening up the door for the two.
“I was wondering if Raylan was here?” Asked Ocie. “I wanted to see if he could go home tonight.”
“Yeah! Athena is just showing him the study.” Replied Caspian.”
“Thanks Caspian! See you later!” Spoke Icarus, while they walked towards the study.

They both headed up towards the study. They didn’t see Rae or Athena through the window so assumed they were further down in the study. The fish and the bird headed downstairs. Raylan and Athena were sitting on the sofa, outside Athena's lab. Athena was showing Raylan some books which were all to do with science tests they had done, with Jamie.

“Ocie, Icky!” Yelled Athena, waving over at Icarus and Ocie.
“Hi Athena!” Said they both replied in unison.
“Your eye is bleeding like my brothers,” remarked Raylan, looking up at Icarus.
“Guess I’m another version of your brother then.” Replied Icarus.
“Raylan, I was wondering if you would be okay going home tonight?” Asked Ocie
“Yeah. I guess yeah.” Said Raylan, looking down at his rings.
“Thanks!” Smiled Ocie, “I’ve got to go see you three later!”
“You okay Raylan?” Asked Icarus, while Ocie walked away.

Raylan nodded up at Icarus, as Athena took a handful of flowers out of their pockets and passed them to the both of them. Athena smiled at the both of them while Icarus carefully rested the flowers in their inventory.

Chapter Text

Evening came around and the sun was setting over the top of the water. Rae and Faye stood by the portal, with the book in hand.

“It was nice seeing you Rae.” Smiled Faye.

After that Rae dropped the book into the portal but this time didn’t go anywhere. Rae tried again. A second time.

A third…

Fourth…

Nothing.

Rae wasn’t going anywhere.

Faye pulled a book out of her enderchest. She quickly scribbled something before throwing the book back in.

They both waited.

Far into the night.

They both waited.

What felt like days later a response came. A rushed response in splotchy ink. Rae and Faye both looked in the book.

“I can’t find Raylan anywhere!” Said the book.

They both shared worried glances at each other.

“Tell me when you find him.” Responded Faye.

Rae went back into the fortress and sat down on the sofa. Rae didn’t know what to do. He wanted to go home. He truly did. But the fact that he could just leave all the problems with Fable and trying to find out what happened within the different realms was stopping him. Faye came in and sat next to Rae.

“We’ll get you home. Don’t worry.” Said Faye, setting her hand on his.
“Thanks Faye.” Nodded Rae.

They both spent the rest of the night upon the sofa, waiting for someone telling Faye that Raylan had been found. After a few hours Faye had fallen asleep. Rae however could not sleep. He simply got up and headed out into the ocean. He wanted to find a quiet spot where he could just sit and watch the stars while not being disturbed by anything but the waves of the sea lapping against him.

Rae found a small cove. He just sat upon a small bench he made and watched the stars. He noted which constellations he saw as well as ones Aax and Caspian had previously pointed out when they were at the beach.

After a while Rae accidentally fell asleep. He hadn’t meant to. He wanted to go back to where Faye was to see if she had gotten a response.

Rae didn’t know if he wanted a response anymore.

Chapter Text

Raylan sat in a field, surrounded by flowers. He didn’t want to go home. He was happy with his partners, even if they weren’t from the same multiverse. He enjoyed sitting in starbarks and talking with Caspian. He wanted to lay by the shore with Aax and watch him fish.

Raylan just watched the sun set between the trees, off in the far distance and saw the stars form in the sky above him. He layed back and let the grass wrap itself around him.

All he heard was the off chirp of a bird or the unusual occurrence of rustling in the leaves.

However after time that same rustling in the leaves was louder. Ocie came out of the trees, book in hand, and looked rather breathless.

“Raylan!” Yelled Ocie, smiling over at Raylan.

Raylan just looked over at her and smiled.

“Are you okay?” Asked Ocie, sitting down next to Raylan.

“I just. I just miss everyone.” Mumbled Raylan.
“It’s okay.” Spoke Ocie calmly.
“I’m sorry.” Said Raylan looking down at the grass. “I’m taking your friend away from you for my own selfish needs.”
“It’s not selfish Raylan.” Comforted the fish.

They both sat in the field for a while. They agreed that in the morning Raylan would go home. Raylan did miss Krit. As much as a nice person Icarus was, he wanted to see his brother again. The weather was clear and Raylan was happy sleeping under the night with only the constellations to watch him.

Chapter Text

Raylan and Rae both stood at the blood rifts. The sun had now risen well beyond the peaks of the land and now it slowly rose up above the pink tinted clouds.

— — — — — —
Rae

Rae had returned early the next morning. As he did not want to worry Faye any more than she already was.

“Are you ready?” Asked Faye, looking at Rae.

Rae nodded. He held the book in his hand and walked into the circle.

“It was nice meeting you in person Faye” smiled the man.

And with that Rae dropped the book into the centre and disappeared into the sparks which shone around him as he vanished.

— — — — — —
Raylan

“Bye Ocie.” Spoke Raylan.
“See you never.” Giggled the ocean.

Not much was said between the two. Raylan did exactly what Rae had done. Walked in the circle and dropped the book down.

— — — — — —
Both Ocie and Faye waited. The wait wasn't very long before the correct person showed up in the backyards.

Each one of them had the same response. Faye and Ocie telling them never to do that again, and Raylan and Rae hugging the other in apology.

Chapter Text

Rae sat by the pond. His feet dangling over the edge and into the water. He sat there for hours, watching the waves lap against the shore and the petals from the trees float down in front of him.

Aax and Caspian soon walked over. They both sat next to Rae and the three waited in silence until Rae sighed and spoke.

“Sorry…” whispered Rae, leaning over onto his partner.
“It's not your fault for wanting to help people.” Replied the traveller.
“Also what did I say about saying sorry.” Responded the olm.

The three of them sat together under the soft glow of the trees. There was a gentle breeze in the air which wafted the vines of the trees across the pond. Hours passed and no one stirred. They all remained where they sat, comfortable in each other's presence.

— — — — — — — —

Many moons across sat Raylan. Also by an ocean. He slept on the docks edge next to Krit and Bucket. He had been told many times that what happened wasn’t his fault. He could not accept that fact though. The light passed over their head as dusk turned into dawn and no one stirred.