Chapter Text
He was dead.
Romeo F Nuemann was dead.
He died.
He woke up, Ariels betrayed him.
He was dead.
He was dead
He was dead
He was
Dead…?
….
Was he?
Romeo woke up.
It was so bright.
He opened his eyes, the light was overwhelming.
He closed them again.
He tried to open them again, the light was still overwhelming
It was so bright.
The next time Romeo opened his eyes, it was darker, someone was standing over him.
Someone?
Something?
It didn’t look human.
It reached out
Asking if Romeo was okay.
He just nodded.
He wasn’t okay.
He’s alive…?
He’s alive?
He’s alive…
Romeo was filled with conflicted feelings
There was no way for him to undo his sins.
Death was the only repentance he could get.
But at the same time
His sister
He could take care of Delilah again
He also wasn’t sure how he felt about this
Taking care of Delilah just meant more stress
But he needed to
No one else would
“Happy Chaos” the thing said.
“Romeo.” He replied
“Romeo… Pleased to meet you” it said, extending its hand?
Was it a hand?
He took it
It sure felt like a hand.
He shook it.
He was dizzy, the only thing holding him up straight were the hands of the thing
He was guided to sit
So he sat
He glanced around
Everything was strange
And then everything was black.
~~~~
It had been about 2 hours since Romeo first woke up, and he was sitting in what appeared to be a living room with Happy Chaos. Chaos was insisting that Romeo take a gun, sliding it across the table, only for Romeo to slide it back. “It’s gonna be a hot minute until I can properly teach you magic, you’re going to need it. I’m not letting you leave without one.”
“I can protect myself.”
“I don’t think you can.”
“Despite my looks, I am not a child. I can protect myself.” Chaos rolled his eyes, sliding the firearm across the table again. “I know.”
“Then why do you insist I need this to protect myself?”
“Try to use your magic on me.”
Romeo scowled, pushing the firearm back as he stood, still a little wobbly. He then tried his typical magic, the kind he had used on Ramlethal’s dog. If he kills him, he can leave, he thought, his scowl deepening when he realized he could conjure no magic. It wasn’t that Chaos was immune; the man didn’t seem to be so, and no one really was, but still, it had no effect. “See?” Romeo just looked more annoyed at the remark, but didn’t say anything, slumping back onto the couch in defeat. Chaos slid the firearm over again, this time conjuring a holster as well. “It goes on your leg, you might wanna get different clothes too.”
“What am I supposed to do? Conjure up something? My magic isn't working.”
“I can do it, but I'm teaching you in a couple of days. I know you want to see your sister first, I'll let you have that, but after you’re learning magic with me.”
“Why would you teach me magic? Out of the goodness of your heart? You obviously want something from me.”
“I want your power, but I also want to set you free, for you to do what you please,” Chaos said, leaning his head into his hands.
“I don’t understand, I get why you’d want my power, but what do my freedom and my whims do for you?”
“Drama~”
“I can’t believe you…” Romeo sighed, shaking his head and crossing his arms. “You really want me to go off on my own, because you think it will cause drama? ”
“Yes.” Romeo frowned at his insistence, sitting up and taking a closer look at the firearm. “I can see my sister? Will she get to come here so I can continue to protect her?”
“You will see your sister, but er... She kinda sorta maybe hates me, so she won’t want to come here if I’m here, and this is my place.”
“Why?”
“She blames me for your death- which she isn’t entirely wrong, but also in my defense, I wasn’t directly possessing Ariels, she just went mad after absorbing me.”
“Absorbing…? You know what, I’m not even going to ask. So. Are you saying that if I take this deal with you, I get to see my sister and be free eventually?”
“Free with strings attached, I want you to still work with me, but it doesn’t need to be every waking moment. You’ll have your freedom, but you’ll still work with me.”
Romeo thought for a moment, feeling the weight of the gun in his hand, frowning at the idea of having to rely on this stranger, having to work for him. He didn’t trust him, especially with the knowledge that Delilah hated him. He didn’t trust anyone, except for Delilah. Romeo wanted to see her, it was his duty as her big brother and de facto caretaker to, well, take care of her. That was his biggest failing in death, leaving her alone to fend for herself in this big, scary world. He needed to see her again. To do that, he needed to take the deal, to accept the terms of what this Happy Chaos person (? he still wasn’t sure if Chaos even qualified as such) was saying.
“If it bothers you that much, you can have more time to decide, you just don’t get to leave or see anyone else until you accept the offer. You can decline, but then you get nothing from me, I won’t even tell you where your sister is.”
“Deal. Under one condition.”
“What is that condition?”
“That under no circumstances do you ever. Make me harm her, or put her in harm’s way to get to me, I want her safe, and after that, we can talk about what I can do for you.”
“Deal,” Chaos said, extending his hand for Romeo to shake. He took the blue hand, and there seemed to be some sort of magical aura as they shook hands. It chilled Romeo to the bone, but there was no going back now. He picked up the holster and gun from before, looking down at them and his hands with a small hint of regret.
~~~~
“You’re leaving?”
“Yes. To see Delilah, you said I could.” It had now been almost a full 24 hours since Romeo had woken up, and he was pretty stable now. He was tired, he hadn’t slept, but he didn't care, all he wanted to do was see Delilah again. “I didn’t even tell you where to find her. Or teleport you there. She’s all the way in Illyria.”
“Where are we?”
“Somewhere between the backyard and reality. On a beach”
“Huh…”
“Yeah, I’m not kidding. You can outside if you’d like. It's just a beach.” Romeo frowned, putting on the boots Chaos gave him, ironic considering the man wasn’t wearing any shoes himself. He stepped outside and was greeted by exactly what Chaos said, a beach. “He wasn’t kidding. Where the hell am I?”
“Not entirely sure myself,” Chaos said, stepping outside. “After I-no was defeated and I became myself again, I kind of showed up here, been using it as home base since then.” Romeo scoffed, taking in his surroundings again, crouching down and running his hands through the sand, noting the way each grain of sand drifted through his fingers, the way everything felt so tactile. The sand was warm, even if the sun was obscured by the sun, the rays still shone upon the beach. It was breathtaking.
“You mesmerized by sand?” Chaos asked, crouching down to Romeo’s level.
“No, it’s just new, a sensation I never experienced before.”
“Well you better get used to it because there’s a lot of sand around here”
“No shit Sherlock, it’s a beach.”
Chaos stayed silent, starting to play with the sand himself, doodling what appeared to be a map or a diagram into the sand. Romeo followed the blue hands with his eyes, watching as the drawing unfolded. He guessed it was supposed to be Illyria, with a big star for the capital, and a smaller dot, for something, Romeo couldn’t guess. “I can teleport you here, to the outskirts of the main city. From there you can take this road and meet your sister, she lives in the last house on this block.”
“Why can’t you just teleport me there?”
“It’s less fun that way, plus I can only teleport people to places I’ve been. I can teleport myself anywhere, but you know she wouldn’t be happy to see me.”
“Fine. Just, get me there.”
“Yes sir,” Chaos said, jokingly saluting much to Romeo’s displeasure, and beginning to teleport him. Magical auras rang around the blue man, and although the magic was dark and teal, it still seemed to light up the area, giving the pale sand a nice color to it. Romeo watched in awe, before feeling himself being lifted away, to see Delilah. He smiled to himself, staring at his now-gloved hands again.