May 8, 2022

Spider appears, she's taller than she was an hour and a bit ago, 5ft 10in now to be exact. She sits down on the sofa, pulling out her phone.

“Doubt it, and Spider is back,” Cole says.

Lock starts snoring.

“It's great to see you too, Cole.” Spider’s voice is icy.

“Uhuh.” Cole walks to the hallway.

“You good Spider?" Luna asks.

Spider shrugs.

Lock sits up. “Heh??... Man, what is up with me lately??"

"No idea Lock. Are you feeling ok?" Luna asks.

"I'm not sure.” Lock scratches her head.

"Hmm," Luna says.

Spider sighs. "It could be to do with your arm. Have you tried not wearing it for a bit?"

“Wearing and turning it off are two very different things,” Lock says.

“So turn it off then.” Spider shrugs.

"Not the brightest idea.." Lock responds.

“Do you wanna explain why?" Spider asks.

"Nope" Lock smiles.

“Well, enjoy whatever it is that's going on with you then,” Spider says.

"I'm sure we could help you with whatever it is you need Lock," Luna says. "That's what the risen do best after all."

"Nah, leave her Lunes. If she doesn't want help then there's nothing we can do,” Spider says.

"And that's just it. Unfortunately, we're not psychic. If you don't tell us what's wrong, then we're unable to help." Luna says.

"I never said I didn't want help, I just said that turning it off doesn't help anything.” Lock says.

"Do you have any ideas on how to fix your constant sleepiness? I know Cole did some modifications for your laugh attacks / sadistic moments." Luna asks.

“And that's what I think is causing this, replacing one mode for another,” Spider says.

"What did he do exactly?" Lock asks.

“Fuck knows,” Spider says. “It's Cole, do you really think he'd explain anything to us?"

"Never explained what precisely he did," Luna says. "I can say it started the night you attacked Melody and tried to pull her arm off. Maybe he was just trying to quell your sadistic urges?"

"I did what now?" Lock asks.

"You started laughing maniacally and pulled Melody's (that's the deer girl) arm out of her socket," Luna explains. "Um, Spider can you handle this for me? I gotta go for a bit. Apparently, Buck is missing. Gonna head over to the Shrine of Artemis real quick."

“Sure,” Spider says.

"Thanks." Luna concentrates on the Shrine of Artemis and disappears.

“Oh..uhh I'm sorry, where is she?" Lock asks.

Spider sighs and stretches. "Shrine of Artemis, it's in another world and I've never been so that's all I can tell you.”

"No, I mean Melody.”

"God knows,” Spider says.

"I KILLED HER?!?!" Lock stands up.

"No you didn't, just injured her,” Spider responds.

"Thank god.." Lock sits back down.

“So, any ideas as to what's causing this, or how to fix it?" Spider asks.

"If Cole messed with something programming-wise I'll bet it's just interfering with some other function.” Lock says.

“Right.”

Melody walks out but pauses when she sees Lock.

Lock looks over. "Oh Melody, I'm so sorry."

Melody looks afraid. "A-are you-"

"I really didn't mean to, promise,” Lock says.

"Y-you seemed like you meant to..." Melody responds.

"I really didn't, I wasn't uhh...in the right state of mind?" Lock gets up and straightens her jacket.

Melody nods. "It's okay..." She notices her wrappings. "Can I see?"

“Huh?" Lock looks where she's looking. "Oh, my arm?"

Melody nods.

"Uhm sure.” Lock starts unwrapping her arm and takes off the Cole watch she had on over her own watch and puts it away in her pocket. "I think I might have a game somewhere on here."

"Ooo!!" Melody walks over and presses some things on the watch.

"Heyyy be careful.” Lock watches, a bit worried.

Melody accidentally turns off the arm.

"Melody!" Lock pulls the arm away and looks at the screen as it shuts off.

"What did I do??" Melody looks worried.

Luna appears on the couch. "Huh?"

“Great.” Spider sighs.

"So what does turning the arm off do?" Luna asks.

"I have no clue.” Spider says.

Lock taps at the off-screen a few times before putting her arm down with a sigh "It's ok, I just...I’ll turn it on later." She looks over at Melody with a smile. "So how about a game of hide and seek instead?"

"Hide and seek?" Luna asks.

"That sounds fun!" Melody exclaims.

"Do you know how to play?" Lock asks.

Melody nods happily.

"Can we play too?" Luna asks.

Lock covers her face. “Yeah sure, everyone go hide where no one will think of looking for you."

Luna disappears.

"Okie!" Melody heads off.

Knight just crawls into his bag.

Spider doesn't move.

Lock starts quietly counting. After a bit, she says, "Ready or not here I come!" Lock uncovers her eyes and glances around the room. She then walks into the hall.

---

Lock walks into the hall and glances around. "Anyone there?"

Melody doesn't make a sound but the closet door is open a little bit.

Lock looks over at the door as a soft smile creeps over her face. She takes a few steps towards it. "Melody~ Where are you?"

Nothing is heard.

Lock puts a hand on the door and pushes it open. "Hello~"

Melody giggles, she’s sitting on the floor and looking up at Lock. "You found me!"

Lock's smile widens as she steps into the closet and closes the door.

Melody looks confused. "What are you doing?"

"Shhhh not so loud, I let someone else be it so I could hide again!" Lock says quietly.

“Oh! Okay!" Melody whispers.

Lock sits down beside her. “Also, what do you like to do for fun?"

"I like playing violin and piano, picking flowers, playing games, cooking, and baking, that kind of stuff!"

"Have you ever just told a little fib to get what you wanted?"

"Um... yeah... why?"

"I love doing that, very very fun, we already have something in common!"

Melody tilts her head but nods, smiling nervously.

"Oh, don't be so nervous about how you feel, it's fun! Nothing to be ashamed about!” Lock exclaims.

"Not really..." Melody says.

"Oh come on, it has to be fun, even just a little bit.” Lock is watching her like a hawk.

"I-I guess a little? I always feel bad after though...." Melody says.

"Oh that's just silly little guilt, it'll go away if you do it more, trust me, I would know.”

"O-okay..."

"There are other things that you can feel guilty about if you stop doing it.” Lock says.

"I'm confused..." Melody responds.

“Here, I can show you.” Lock holds out an arm.

Melody gives Lock her hand.

Lock grips it tightly with both hands and starts to twist her hands in opposite directions.

Melody screams in pain.

Lock twists as hard as she can.

Cole opens the door to the closet violently.

Lock doesn't stop and has a wide grin across her face.

Melody is screaming and trying to get away.

Cole grabs Lock by the neck tightly as his eyes flicker purple. "Whatcha doing?"

Lock starts to giggle and keeps a strong grip.

"I would crush your windpipe but......eh fuck it.” Cole crushes Lock's windpipe.

Lock lets go as she tries to pull at Cole's hands. She makes ack sounds.

Melody is crying and holds her arm in pain, looking around in fear and panic.

Cole keeps a firm grip on Lock's throat and looks at Melody as he steps away from the closet door. “Go to the living room and explain what happened.”

Melody sobs and runs to the living room.

Cole stares at Lock as his eyes shift to purple. “Now you, I have words for you.” Cole and Lock disappear.

Melody walks in, sobbing. Her arm looks red like a really bad rope burn. "L-Lock attacked me again-"

"Oh god, what the hell?" Luna says.

Roxy just stares at the deer girl but keeps quiet.

"You are really awkward around women Roxy," Luna says.

"What's that supposed to mean?” Roxy asks.

"Nothing," Luna says.

"I literally know where you live, Luna,” Roxy says.

Melody is sobbing. "C-can someone heal me-"

"Yup. Here." Luna turns to Knight. "Hey Knight? Can you heal her?"

Roxy doesn't look at Melody and starts tracing patterns into the palm of her own hand.

“You ok over there Rox?" Spider asks.

"Yeah!" Roxy looks up at Spider and then back down at her hand which now has a phone in it.

"Hey, Knight? Are you here?" Luna asks.

Spider mutters something as she leans back into the sofa.

Roxy pockets her phone and walks up to Melody.

“Yep,” says Knight.

"You trust a random stranger?" Roxy asks Melody.

Melody nods nervously.

“I think Roxy has got this,” Knight says.

"Seems like it, Knight," Luna says.

Roxy holds out her hand and the air around Melody's arm feels colder. It starts to squirm like when Lock twisted it, and then… Bam. Right back to how it used to be a few minutes ago. "Fucking rad I love time bullshittery."

"You're having a laugh,” Spider says.

"Yo, that was amazing Roxy!" Luna exclaims.

“Time Fuckery is great,” Knight says.

“What else can we do that you're not telling me?" Spider asks.

"I just googled it and went on a Quotev 'creepypasta research' book. Information's out there you just gotta search.” Roxy sits back down.

Melody smiles. "Thank you-"

"You're welcome.” Roxy responds.

"So Corrupteli have 'creepypasta' powers then?" Luna asks.

“I mean like, Slenderman was considered a creepypasta character,” Knight says.

"In my veil, he is," Luna says.

"What? No, it's just those losers who think creepypasta characters are real see corrupteli in creepypasta media and roll with it." Roxy says.

“Huh,” Luna says.

Drew appears in a puff of smoke. "Sup fuckers."

"Hey Drew, you look a bit better," Luna says.

"What’s good?” Roxy says to Drew.

Melody itches her arm where it was twisted, sniffling.

Kade sleepily slurs a, "creepypasta: boyfriend scenarios, chaper 3.. first kiss. slenderman pulls you in close and..." In demon language, and trails off back into sleep.

Luna really wishes she could understand Kade.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," Drew says.

"Anyway, I'm gonna head to the roof for a bit. It's a pretty night." Luna says.

Melody heads outside.

---

Cole and Lock appear in the backyard as Cole heals Lock and sets her down.

Lock gasps for air.

Cole takes a deep breath as he leans down to Lock. “What the FUCK were you doing?"

"I was helping her.” Lock coughs some.

"WITH WHAT? GETTING ROPE BURN?" Cole yells.

Lock starts giggling.

"This is not funny, Lock.” Cole looks at Lock's arms, looking for damage or anything that could cause this.

The wrapping is off her arm and the lights aren't on on her watch, otherwise, everything seems normal. Lock still giggles. "It's really fun though!"

Cole grabs Locks arm and taps the watch. “What the fuck happened to your watch?"

The arm is pulled off of her as she shrugs. "Just off for a bit, I can have plenty of fun without it.”

Cole looks for an on/off switch. "I swear to god, if I could do something other than put you in a fucking cage for punishment then I would.”

Cole finds a button "Heheheheh-" Lock takes the fire poker off her back and twirls it with one hand.

Cole pushes the button and isn't paying attention.

The arm is powering on but may take a second. Lock swings the poker with great force trying to embed the hook into Cole's leg.

It embeds into Cole's leg and he drops the arm and falls down as he screams in pain.

Lock rips it out and goes to slam the hook down with great momentum into his back.

Melody walks outside, her eyes widening as she runs to try and tackle Lock.

Luna appears on the patio.

Cole rolls out of the way and his wound heals as he stands up.

The fire poker hits the ground and Lock swings it at Melody as Melody is running toward her.

Cole extends his hand towards lock as an invisible force pushes Lock back a good foot back.

Melody continues running at her, attempting to grab the poker.

Lock lets Melody grab the poker but as soon as she gets a hold of it, she tries to sling Melody onto the floor with it.

It works and Melody lands with an EEP.

Cole sprints over to Lock and kicks them in the jaw as his eyes glow a bright purple.

Lock gets hit and laughs as she swings the fire poker at Cole’s face.

Cole ducks and grabs the fire poker and tries to pull it away from Lock.

Cole takes it as Lock laughs she grabs Melody by the throat.

Cole aims a stab at the arm Lock is holding Melody with.

Melody yelps and claws at Lock’s hand.

Any electronics start... glitching out. Speakers playing backward, distorted music, screens showing deep red disturbing imagery.

The darkness around them feels darker, more unsettling. Two bright orange, swirling eyes can be seen above a bright, glowing smile.

A large, boney, hairless, feline arm with long, sharp claws on the paw swipes at Lock from the darkness, throwing her off of Melody. Another pins her to the ground. The smile and eyes loom over her, growling deeply. Everyone in the backyard feels a sense of danger.

"𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝... 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖? 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝. ℙ𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕔. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕥. 𝕊𝕠 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕒 𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕤, 𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕒? 𝕊𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕄𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕞 𝕪𝕠𝕦. 𝕌𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕞𝕖. 𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕤 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕠 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟. 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕?"

"Holy shit." Luna says.

Lock starts laughing.

Cole stares directly at them. "I am dealing with it, back off bitchass.”

Lock is thrown. Far. She twinkles in the sky like a Team Rocket blast off. Get fucked.

Cole snaps, teleporting Lock to his backyard where she’s caught by a trampoline.

"That was... awesome!" Luna exclaims.

Melody is crying again and brings her knees to her chest as she looks at the paws in fear.

“Ah yes, because throwing the person I'm trying to protect is a wonderful idea because I definitely needed that to fucking happen,” Cole growls.

The arms retreat into the darkness and everything goes back to normal. Asphodel strolls out of the woods and walks up to Melody. "Hey, you okay?"

Melody shakes her head no, getting up to hug Asphodel.

She pets Melody, holding her gently. "It'll be okay, Mel, I promise. I told you I'd protect you, and I'm a woman of my word."

Luna walks up to the stranger. "Who are you?"

Cole walks over to Lock's arm and picks it up with his free arm and disappears leaving a black poppy behind.

"Asphodel. Melody's bitch." Asphodel responds.

"Nice to meetcha Asphodel. Thank you for protecting her." Luna says.

Melody shoves her face into Asphodel's chest, shaking like a leaf. "I-I love you..."

"No one like Melody deserves to be hurt like that." Asphodel leans into Melody, petting her gently. "I love you too, Melody."

"Agreed. Melody is truly a kind soul." Luna says.

"M-my family's dead..." Melody says to Asphodel quietly.

".. I'm sorry to hear that. If it makes you feel any better, mine is too. Died in a house fire." Asphodel picks Melody up, still hugging her.

Melody clings to her. "They killed me too... bad demons killed all of us..." She says, sobbing harder.

"They'll never hurt you again, Melody. I pinky promise." Asphodel says.

Melody nods and hugs her tightly, crying into her.

Luna heads back inside, trusting Asphodel.

Asphodel sets Melody down, still hugging her. "Does my princess wanna go on a walk? It'll help clear your head."

Melody nods, wiping her eyes.

"Alright, darling, let's go." Asphodel pats Melody on the back then holds her hand and they walk into the woods.

---

Asphodel leads Melody to a small clearing with a firepit and some log benches. Asphodel sits down on a bench and lights the fire.

Melody wipes her eyes more. "Jerma..."

"What's that, dear?" Asphodel chuckles.

"Jermaaa…” Melody whines.

"Is he your favorite streamer?" Asphodel smiles, leaning on Melody.

"He's the only streamer,” Melody says.

"Agreed," Asphodel chuckles. "Oh, also I wanted to say happy mother's day."

"But I'm not a mama-”

"Do you wanna be?" Asphodel asks.

"What?" Melody asks.

"You're adorable. Genuinely." Asphodel hugs Melody, petting her.

Melody purrs. "I don't wanna be a mom for a while..."

"I know darling, it was just a joke," Asphodel giggles, "Thought you'd appreciate it"

Melody giggles. "I like it,"

"You do?" Asphodel smirks.

Melody nods.

"Interesting," Asphodel scoots closer to Melody, putting an arm around her shoulders.

Melody leans on her and purrs.

Asphodel holds her close, leaning her head on Melody's.

Melody purrs happily.

"I'm gonna make you my wife one day." Asphodel says.

Melody giggles. "Really?"

Asphodel nods. "You'd be cute in a wedding dress. You'll look like the prettiest princess ever."

Melody giggles more!!

Asphodel pets her more. "You're adorable, Melody. I love you."

Melody purrs and giggles. "I love you too,"

"I promise to protect you forever, till the end of time. I'll be here for you no matter what. If anyone wants to hurt you, they'll need to go through me first." Asphodel says.

"R-really?"

"I don't break promises."

Melody nuzzles her. "I love you so much..."

"I love you too."