Author's note: On may 30th 2018 I sent some of my readers questions about vengeance, forgiveness, disdain and sadism/voyeurism.

I want to thank

FlippyIsKing18 (Deviantart id is the same)

Deviantart: Kleptomaniac-Twin

Deviantart: HTF-ADTI-MLP100606

again at this point, special thanks again to

Scarecrow77 (Deviantart id: Scarecrow4774 ) whose answers were the most interesting regarding the aforementioned topics:)

The task ahead of you isn´t easy. I will help you both as much as I can to fulfill it.

"You have no idea what happened? How is that possible? I thought you were omniscient regarding the happenings in your own house!" God damn it give me a fucking break! I just found him and now he just vanishes within my arms. "Do I have to remind you that those children are overpowering me? I don´t have any clue how he could just disappear before our own eyes. This even surprised me!"

Oh, did it? "How about you stop whining at once, go out of the room and look for him yourself?" Is she fucking kidding me right now? What was this oath thing all about then? "I thought your oath requires his safety? What´s with that all of a sudden? Why don´t you accompany me then? Your superpowers would be extremely convenient you know?"

Lazy bitch. "I can´t accompany you. It is too dangerous for me. Those children can finish me of with just one attack. I can´t risk my life that easily. You have to remember that you both are definitely doomed if they gain full control of this mansion. I have to stay safe as long as possible. Sorry, but this is on your own." I can´t bear her rambling any longer! Fine then! Stay safe and hide like a fucking coward! I´ll go on searching for him myself!

He smashed the door close, ahead of him was just a small hallway with a single door at the end of it. "Another mind-play? Maybe some more twisted rooms and corridors? Another abomination on my ass just ready to tear me apart and all that fun stuff? Come on! Bring it on me!" He makes a few steps forwards only to be greeted by a calm and serene voice.

"I know that you´re looking for Ian. Come through the door and meet me there. He is safe and sound, you have my word for it."

Flippy clenched his fist in anger. "He´d better be! Otherwise I´ll rip your fucking throat out!" To his surprise, the way to the door was completely free of any danger. He goes through it, ready to meet the voice he just encountered in his head again. But behind the door was no Ian, and no other person to meet. Instead he was greeted by a gigantic stairway with various stairs that are neatly arranged in a row. At the end of each stair was a spectral figure resembling his newfound friend.

"Before I can let you meet him, I need you to understand the kind of help you have to provide him."

Flippy just stood there dumbfounded. "What the actual…" he approached one stair and made his way towards one figure. It shows Ian running towards a silhouette which keeps its hands shaped like a cone before the mouth as if it was shouting.

"Ian is eager, kind and altruistic. He never got the chance to learn about suspicion. He will need your guidance. Otherwise he´ll stay blind to dangers directly in front of him."

The spectral figure disappears, and a new stair rearranges itself, enabling Flippy to move forward to another spectral figure. "Why are you showing me this? What are your motives?" Luckily, this time he got a person who doesn´t act that mysterious.

"I´m one of the fallen children. My name is Grace. Unlike the others, I never hold a grudge against Ian. I helped him to forgive himself and put him to sleep until you arrive. You have to understand that Ian missed many things to learn due to his captivity. He will need your help and the help of his brothers to stand a chance for the challenges that are yet to come for you all."

But even though Grace told him what he wanted to know, Flippy was still confused. "How can you know of his brothers? If I recall his story correctly, he never really met them until now. And if you´re really one of the fallen children, you have died way before he could actually know about them. Furthermore, how is putting him to sleep doing him any good right now? He already slept before we encountered the little brat Eleowen!"

"We are connected to this world as long as we are residing it. The moment we got unleashed, we learned everything about him. Ian didn´t sleep, he was unconscious because Eleowen was about to tear his soul apart. I managed to hold her of as long as necessary, by reviving the efficiency of his gift. I dived into his mind and took shape of it."

Flippy raised an eyebrow. "Why are you telling me this right now? Why exactly did you take shape of it?"

"The moment I did so, Ian was already possessed by Eleowen. I tried to reason with her. We all four are connected, with our powers and with our pain. She was blinded by her craving for vengeance which only culminated by the hatred of the other fallen ones. Eleowen was so little, the negativity of the others overpowered her, obscured her real intentions. I knew that what happened wasn´t what she wanted, but in the end the only solution was the ending you put on her."

Flippy got solemn at that thought. Children are so easy to influence, especially very young ones. "How old was she?" He feared the answer to that.

"She didn´t get the chance to turn older than seven years. That was when she got captured, tortured and killed. Condemning her to live an afterlife full of disdain and agony."

Her explanations are darkening his mood as his sense of empathy rises with every second he thinks of her. "Ian suffered this ordeal for seven years. He saw many people suffer and die, how does it come that only you four were haunting him?"

"We were the descendants of the guardians, the counterculture to the Mayan brotherhood. That means only three of us. The fourth child was a volunteered sacrifice."

"Counterculture? Mayan brotherhood? Volunteered sacrifice?" His head began to hurt. "I don´t understand anything! What are you talking about?"

Grace continued her explanation calm and patiently. "I know that this is much to fathom. Did you ever wonder…"

But her explanation got interrupted, replaced by grunts and wails of pain. She moans and groans as if a sudden migraine assaulted her. "What is wrong? Is everything alright?"

"I´m running out of time! The other ones try to overpower me by controlling my mind! You have to hurry!"

He dashes the stairs upwards, taking two at a time with every step. To his surprise the stairway disappears, causing him to fall a long way down. "SHIT! What´s happening?!" The landing on the wooden floor of the witch's estate presses any air out of his lungs and leaves him wheezing for a minute.

"Fuck…" His aching bones and joints harden the attempt to get up. Flippy leans against a wall to catch his breath only to fall through it as if the wall was just an illusory obstacle. Landing face first, he begins to cough, covered in mud and dirt. "What the… Where am I now?" The estate surrounding him just a few seconds before vanished completely. Instead he finds himself in a sort of jungle.

"Hello?! Grace?! Could you answer me?" Flippy asks irritated, balling his fists in frustration and annoyance. "And just for a fucking moment I thought I found someone being non-cryptic! Tsk! Stupid me!" The wind waving through the thicket remembers him on a certain point of his past. "I… I know this place… How… Why am I back here?"

"You and Ian share history. I´m surprised that you remember so little. But many things happened between it."

"We met before? I can´t recall…" But his monologue got cut short by the sight of a familiar face. "Okay, from here we will asses the situation! Sneaky, any idea how we can infiltrate this basis?" A young green-furred bear in an army-outfit spoke up, appearing as the squad's leader. "I should be able to bypass the guards using my camouflage. They secured the ceiling with barbed wire, I´m sure I can take advantage of that."

The young commander nodded contently. " Oui! As soon as the guards are diverted by falling intestines, I´ll make sure to give them an impacting surprise!" The rodent next to him said smugly, rubbing his hands together. "Perfect! After the outposts are done for! I´ll come in disguised as a pizza delivery agent! This time, the meal will be extra-sharp! This operation cannot possibly fail!"

Flippy witnessed the scenario with mixed feelings, with negativity overpowering him. "I don´t need to see this again! Why are you showing me this?!" He blurted out, in fear what is about to come. The young commander, however, got frantic at the sight of something unpleasant. "Damn it! What is this child doing there? It approaches the base obliviously! Sneaky! Ka-Boom! Hold the position! I have to prevent this child getting itself killed!" His comrades nodded, giving a quick salute before he dashed away.

"Follow him, then you will see what I was talking about."

Flippy watched his younger self running away, unable to move as he suddenly began to float, more or less voluntarily after the commander. "What the fuck?!" The frequency of the jungle's leaves hardens the approach, but the knife for the operation proves to be extremely effective as the leaves get cut like pieces of warm butter. He stops before a tree, a little raccoon kid sits on a high branch, munching on something.

"Hey! Can you hear me?!" But the little child only keeps on munching as if nothing could reach its ears momentarily. The young commander ponders, climbing on a tree isn´t really an option, he lacks the ability for that. He gathers a few fallen leaves from the ground and compresses them into a ball. Aiming for the back of the child's head, he throws the ball and hits perfectly. The little grey-furred raccoon yelps in surprise and falls from the tree. The real Flippy face-palmed "Was I really that dense back then? Why didn´t I just stepped before the child, so he could see me actually?"

The little fella lies on the ground, dazed from the fall and the not so gentle landing. "Hey… Uhum sorry about that… I didn´t want you falling of that tree." The kid turned around rapidly, the eyes pried wide open as he crawled back to the tree, shivering as if in great fear. "Hey, easy there. I mean you no harm." The young commander stretched his hand towards the child carefully. "My name is Flippy, may you tell me your name?"

To his surprise, the little raccoon got rather trustful quickly. "Ian, my name is Ian. If you don´t want to hurt me, what is it then what you want?" Flippy smiled at Ian. "Can you tell me where exactly you´re planning to go? You didn´t really intend to approach the great building in the distance, did you?" Ian only crossed his arms, recalcitrantly retorting. "Yes, I INTENT to do that! Why do you care?"

His smile turned into a stern look as he could feel his patience running thinner. "I care because that is exactly something I cannot allow you to do! The reason I came here is to prevent you from doing that! It is not allowed." Flippy's petulance turned into a glimpse of slight anger as he witnesses Ian rolling his eyes enervated. "Anything else you want? Can you go now?" That was the point in which he could feel the border almost crossed and approached the sullen boy menacingly, causing him to gulp.

"Listen here, fella. I mean it! If I say you don´t approach that building, then you don´t approach it, understood?" Ian, however, grabbed a bit of dirt and threw it directly into Flippy's face. "Agh! You brat!" As he rubbed the dirt out of his face, he recognized Ian running towards the location he should avoid. "Shit!" The adolescent bear ran after him, but the little kid was surprisingly fast. "He sure knows his territory…"

Ian grabs the bark of a tree near to him and climbs it up quickly. Flippy quickly gets a branch and throws it like a spear towards the tree. It only misses Ian barely, shocking him hard enough to bring him down. He lands roughly on his back, dazed by the impact. He yelps in shock as a green furred bear throws himself on top of him. "UMPF!" Flippy presses himself onto Ian with his body weight, still slightly irritated by the dirt thrown into his face, and by the fact that this child was about to run into its own doom so obliviously.

"You´re grounded! You get that?" Ian's indignant muffled screams prove otherwise, especially as he begins, or better tries, to scratch Flippy at his sides, unable to pierce through the jacket. "You can try to hurt me all you want, it isn´t going to work. Do as I tell you or otherwise I won´t get off from you." Flippy said smugly, content as he forces the little coon to obey. Finally, after his limbs become weaker together with his fidgeting "Ok… Pleafe get off…" And so, Flippy slowly got up, releasing Ian from his predicament who hectically breathes in the air he got decompressed from a moment ago.

"What… What is it with this building anyways?" He asks, still breathing heavily. The young commander's look became serious again as a strange noise emitted from the bushes nearby, causing him to tense up in fear. He grabs Ian by his arm and pulls him with him as he frantically looks for a space to hide in. "Hey! What are…" But Flippy keeps Ian's mouth shut. "Pst! Please be quiet! We may be in danger right now!"

He got himself and Ian hidden just in time as two blue-furred cats in a lighter blue uniform come out from behind a tree. "Did you hear that too? I could swear someone talked just seconds ago." The other soldier only nodded "We better check the environment. Just to make sure everything´s alright." Flippy silently got his walkie-talkie to contact his comrades. "Sneaky, Ka-Boom! We have to start the operation! I got the subject safe but we´re trapped inside our hideout!"

Sneaky answered whispering "Ok! As soon as you hear the bomb exploding you can start with your part." Flippy agreed and turned towards Ian, that means, towards the spot he stood before. Just a few inches away he catches him peeking out of the bush. "Damn it! Do you want to get ourselves killed?" Ian gave a shocked expression. "What do you mean with "killed"? Are they that hostile?" Flippy cursed himself, not thinking about the consequences of what he says.

"No, but they will sure attempt to catch us. Please stay here! I will return soon ok?" But Ian only crossed his arms again. "I won´t stay here while you´re up to something! I come with you." Flippy shook his head. "No, you won´t. You will stay here until I return!" His bratty demeanor reached its absolute limit as he gave the adolescent bear an angry look. "Pft! make me!" Flippy, however, only waited for him to say that and got his tightrope. "As you wish…" He cooed, Ian's attempt to shout got interrupted as he winded the rope around his little snout. After that he tied him against a tree and covers him with several leaves and bushes. "Now, be a good little coon and stay here, will you?"

With that said he leaves a grumpy Ian behind to join the operation. A gargling suffocated scream indicated the beginning. His walkie-talkie emitted a voice. "Ka-Boom, the first diversion successfully struck. Now it´s your turn." Another joyful voice appeared. "Capiché" The appointed explosion did not wait long. "Flippy! Now it is your turn! Kill that son of a bitch!" By the time, the real Flippy silently watched the happenings, perfectly able to recap the following events.

Getting his disguise, the adolescent commander knocked at the base, the pizza-carton perfectly prepared. "Pizza-delivery service." He got in, smiling widely as several happy faces greet him. At the end of the long table sits a great blue-furred tiger, his uniform implying that he seems to be the leader of the pack. "Finally, about time you show up." Flippy slowly opens the carton, grabbing the first thing his hand feels and throws it precisely at the tiger's face. He gulps in distress while giggling nervously at the general's pizza-covered face. "Hehe… Strange, I thought you would catch it…" But the tiger's pissed expression told him that he isn´t a person keen to jokes, or humor.

"Guards, you know what to do…" Flippy yelps in fear as they open fire towards him and runs out of the base as fast as he can. Taking the risk, he grabs the knife out of the carton and blindly throws it behind himself, managing to get the knife stuck in the wall. Much to his surprise, blood pours out of the spot he hit, slowly revealing the impaled body of his comrade. "Sneaky! Shit I´m sorry!" he quickly runs back to help him, overpowering the few soldiers pursuing him. He grabs the shaft of the knife and pulls hardly "Shit! It got stuck!"

Then suddenly the knife got loose but the strength of his pull is backfiring, causing him to make a large swing backwards. Ka-Boom, much to his disadvantage, stood directly behind Flippy who accidentally sliced through his entire face, causing his head to split open. He spins around in panic, hitting Sneaky on his head either whose head is now cut in half. "SHIT!" He cusses, trembling as he gets surrounded, only a few seconds until they finally will find him.

"What do I do, what do I do?" He questions himself panic-fueled. Only one possible solution strikes his mind as he nervously watches Sneaky's body.

Ian keeps twitching and fidgeting to free himself from the ropes. He constantly rubs his snout against the bark of the tree to get free from the ropes binding his mouth. The rope finally gives in and releases his mouth. The rest of the rope is wrapped tightly around his chest and waist. He picks the highest part of it with his teeth and begins to nibble on it. It isn´t made of good material, proven as the seams tear bit by bit, spitting out the lint soaking themselves in his saliva.

"How old is this thing? Some could think it was used by his ancestors…" Only a few minutes passed until Ian managed to free himself, he couldn´t help it but smile mischievously, a feeling of superior wit coming up in him. "That stupid moron underestimated me! I wonder why he tried so hard to prevent me from going to that little fortress though… I wonder why it´s build here."

He quickly attempts to make his way through the jungle but falls. The rope wrapped around him was tight which caused his limbs to fall asleep. Every further pursuit to stand up shows to be extremely unpleasant, the prickling sensation in his legs forces him down again, compelling him to wait for the condition to get better. "Drat! I wonder what is taking him so long anyway, my limbs would have fallen off until he returned!"

The feeling in his legs intensifies, making every little move painful. The rope's remains filling his mouth dry his throat a little. He looks up to the tree he fell from earlier while massaging his extremities. "My apple is still there! At least a bit of luck!" He exclaims happily and shuffles towards the tree slowly. As soon as he reached the branch, his mouth gets watered by the juicy flesh of the fresh fruit, extinguishing his thirst at least a bit.

He pleasurably takes one bite after another as a sudden outcry from the distance startles him to the point of choking on a piece. His balance runs thinner as he desperately tries to breathe while coughing simultaneously. The piece blocking the airway got out, but he slipped and fell face first from the tree, again. "Ow…" Dizziness mists his perception, the blurred vision mixing with the noises from the distance. The lack of oxygen combined with the impact was too much for his childish body, he passed out.

It is a cold inferno of sliced body parts scorching the environment with parts of mutilated flesh and bones. With the ribcages of his former comrade, Flippy turned the sortie into a massacre. No single soldier is able to withstand his fierce attacks, every bullet launched at him was dodged as if it flew in slow-motion. "Finally, it seems that you prove to be quite a challenge." The tall, blue furred general grinned smugly.

The adolescent made his first move and quickly dashed towards him. With a fast and precise kick Flippy managed to unarm his opponent, but his claw-like hands proved to be extremely sharp, piercing him through the chest, barely missing his vital organs. Flippy falls back but ignores the pain surging through his upper body, it seems he is almost driven by the pain, fueled to kill by losing blood.

Every punch coming from the tiger misses him or gets blocked, Flippy launches forward and manages a grip on his enemy's neck. But the general reacts quickly and severs his hands with his claw, leaving single bone cones out of the ghastly wound. "You are no match to me. I already knew you´re dead the moment you failed to throw the dagger at me. A bummer, I must admit that this move came unexpected. Just one correct grab would have been necessary to kill me. But you failed so miserably."

The taunting words are echoing in his mind. Remembering the corpses of his comrades caused by his own mistakes nearly drive him to the edge of a breakdown. But the humiliation coming from in front of him helps him to keep his anger persistent. A wide, insane grin forms in his face, indicating the tiger's damnation. He dashes forward, holding his arms behind his back. The general smirks, readying himself to deliver the final blow, but Flippy lashes his arms toward his opponent, piercing his chest and throat.

He gargles and grabs Flippy's arms, slowly descending to the ground as life keeps flowing out of his body. Flippy managed to take him down, for good. But the spots were his hands were before keep pouring blood and the loss is beginning to take its toll. Dizziness begins to affect him. The adolescent bear shuffles toward the thicket, the location he left Ian behind to wait for him.

"The pivotal moment is almost there."

Grace's voice echoes inside his mind, causing the real Flippy to become hysterical. "I didn´t calm down yet! Please don´t tell me that I abused a little child back then! Please let me have some sense left inside of me! Please…" The visions circling in his head drive him deeper into his hysteria as a hand grabbing his shoulder rips him out of it gently. He looks behind himself jittery directly into the face of Ian, the real Ian.

"Calm down, whatever is bound to happen, it is in the past. And you know how I think about things happened in the past." Ian said, smiling serene. "I didn´t know you were here too. Why didn´t you show yourself sooner?" Ian lowered his head in slight shame. "I… Got rather intrigued over your… Combat abilities. You know… Your evil side won you over when we had that ritual thing going. But I cannot recall you going on a same rampage with me as you were going with them. Don´t get me wrong… I´m glad you obviously spared me, but… I don´t really understand, you know?"

The sad look on Flippy's face told him that he can´t fathom that either. They both know that they have to go on, to witness the happenings in which they met until Flippy began to shake heavily on the verge of a breakdown. "Ian can you… Can you hold my hand please?" He grabbed his hand right after the plead was spoken. "Sure… Let´s follow him. And whatever we may witness, I won´t hold a grudge against you, bear that in mind!" Flippy gave a shaky nod.

Not much time has passed until they finally reached the location. The little raccoon child leans against a tree, burying his face in his paws as he perceives the rustling leaves. "Huh?! WHOA DUDE! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HANDS?" But the mutilated bear gave him a hollow stare only. "I… Can help you… If you would like I can…" The sudden charge of the adolescent bear startled him. He tried to stand up on time but Flippy was too fast. He thrusts one of his sharp bones right into the child's stomach and pins him down while pressing his knee on Ian's chest.

Ian and Flippy watch this scenario from the background as Flippy couldn´t bear the sight any longer. He falls down to his knees, drowning in sobs. Ian kneels beside him, hugging him to comfort. He observes the scene perfectly calm, remaining silent as his younger version begins to plead. "Please… Stop! Please!" The child desperately grabs Flippy's arm and face, trying to push him away.

His assaulter miraculously relieves his grasp. Ian holds the wound gaping from his belly to unleash the mighty potential of his gift, the wound closes itself rapidly. Flippy, however, suffers the impact of the massive bloodlust as not even his much stronger berserk side seems to be able to stand it any longer. He faints and falls. A small bit of consciousness seems to remain as silent whimpers can be heard.

Ian slowly approaches him reluctantly and gets greeted by tear-filled pleading eyes which lost their emerald shimmer. "I´m sorry… I didn´t want…" But the sentence doesn´t get finished. The young raccoon suddenly throws himself on top of the adolescent soldier, grabbing his arms. The wounds and scars around his body disappear, every scratch meticulously gets washed away. The cones his hands were supposed to be get enveloped with back growing flesh, the flesh enveloped with skin and the skin with fur.

"That´s the reason I still had hands…" Flippy said, slowly getting a hold of himself. "It all makes sense now." As the insight finally got him, his surroundings began to blur again. Due to the quantity of this effect, it lost its nauseating character, but his nervousness strikes back again as he feels Ian's grab fading. Flippy finds himself in a cozy wooden room, a pleasant warmth caressing the air. He looks around, not caring about the common furniture. Only one thing caught his eye, a small hay-filled bed, with Ian sleeping in it.

"So many things happened for which you give yourself the fault. But nothing of it was really your fault. You both have to forgive yourself finally." A white-feathered, naked owl suddenly appears directly before him. Although Flippy found some relief in remembering the past, he´s still dumbstruck. "I don´t get the reason. Why do you care so much about whether we forgive ourselves or not?"

Grace unfolds her left wing, showing the vision of a female cheetah. "Eleowen was an illusionist, but she was very young. You can recall the impact she had on you. The next child you will encounter will be heard to the name Seldana. Her greater sister, gifted with the same powers, but with way more efficiency. If you hold back any guilt, any shame… You have to overcome it now, or she will use it against you. Purify your conscience now, otherwise you both won´t stand a chance against her."

Flippy lowered his head and took a deep breath in. "Alright, what should we do now?" Grace pulls a fine sword out of her other wing. It is a pristine silver-shimmering blade, red gems decorating the grip. The image of an owl is molten into the blade. She handles it to him, only a few swings suffice. "Wow, that thing is handy. Much better than that rotten and broken machete I had before."

But Grace hold her stern look. "As soon as you killed me, Ian will wake up." The war veteran only blinked in confusion. "Why should I kill you now? You proved to me that you´re not hostile!" The white owl shook her head. "I´m part of his curse, part of the presence lingering in this place. I have to perish as well as the others." He was voice-tied, Grace finished her speech, small tears filling the corner of her eyes. "I only beseech you to give me a quick dead. Thrust the blade through my chest and end me."

His gaze turned somber, lowering his head. "Turn around…" Grace hesitated. "Why?" He lifted his head, looking directly at her. "The chest is the wrong place for a quick end." Grace turned her back toward him, dread filling her as she feels the peak of the blade touching her neck. "Thank you for everything, Grace. Rest in peace." She silently nodded. Flippy lunged the blade through her neck until it came out her throat.

Her lifeless body vanishes completely, leaving the room behind in perfect tranquility. A condition which was sure not about to reappear too soon. They had to take advantage from it as long as possible. Grace stood true to her word. With her disappearance, Ian began to twitch a little, getting awake groaningly. Flippy sat on the edge of the bed. "Finally awake, sleepyhead?"

He rubbed his eyes, slowly getting up. A feeling of refreshment finally reaches him. Ian sat up next to Flippy, both remained silent for a moment. "So… You remembered all of this, didn´t you?" Flippy finally spoke up, causing Ian to lower his head. "Why didn´t you tell me from the beginning? I mean, that we both already met before? That you remembered me? Why did you keep it a secret until now, Ian?"

Ian hesitated a bit to explain himself. But the mood lingering in the room relieved the pressure in his throat. "You know… The moment I saw you in the restaurant, I still could tell that you felt not too well… I was afraid that if I would confront you with the past, you would just run away in fear to hurt me again… So, I pretended to be nescient. I couldn´t stand the sight that literally everyone avoided you except for that light blue otter…"

Flippy blinked, raising one brow. "You mean Russel. Yeah, he´s a person seeing good in everyone. Well, the place we´re living in is already fucked up. Mostly when shit is going to hit the fan, I was not the only life-hazard to everyone. Most of the days ended with everyone being dead. I got spared most of the time, but I even myself suffered some lethal blows."

Ian looked into his eyes, a slight glimpse of sadness overcoming him. "I´m sorry to hear that…" But the war veteran only shrugged it off. "Nah, you´ll get used to it. Sometimes it is painful, but most deaths are nearly instant. Only looking gruesome…" he chuckled a bit, causing Ian to smile. "Flippy, I´m sorry I wasn´t completely honest with you. I intended to help you first hand, but I had no clue of how to approach that sensitive matter…"

Flippy, however, looked directly at Ian, a smirk decorating his face. "You know, it´s fine. There is one important thing I learned from Grace vision…" Ian raised a brow in curiosity. "So? What may that be?" The green furred bear gave a smug look before he answered. "You were one messed up brat back then." He said joyfully, giving Ian, who just busted out in laughter, a gentle noogie. "Pft, I´m still pretty messed up."

Their laughter ceased after a while, it was Flippy once again who broke the ice. "But more importantly, I realized that you´re not only my only friend, you´re also the best friend someone could wish for. You did so much for me voluntarily, I can´t thank you enough for that." Ian smiled back. "You don´t have to, you´re sticking in this mess together with me and endured so much pain to rescue me from the first child we encountered." Their eyes meet together with genuine jocularity. "The feeling is mutual here, Flippy."

They sat on the bed for a while longer, enjoying the serenity in silence resting their heads on another.