The Tale of Three
Chapter 30
Painful truths
As Lord Brudo watched Meteora walk away from his house through a crack in the door, he sighed in relief and once again propped it up as best he could. Which was still totally amateurish, as the door would fall over with the slightest push. He grumbled at this and went back to his chair, adding the broken door to his list of "later" problems. His fingernails dug into the armrests as he thought about the consequences of the broken door. He wasn't even sure if he had the tools necessary to repair it in the first place.
But that wasn't even the biggest problem right now. He still had to tell Cudo that Meteora's visit had all been a dream, and to come up with a way to make it so that everyone stayed upstairs before Meteora came back with whoever it was she was bringing. While also convincing his family that nothing was wrong and nobody else was there in the process.
It was all going to take a pretty convincing lie. So it was probably best to just start now. As much as he didn't want to get up from his chair, somethings just took priority.
Moaning as if he was undertaking some enormous and draining task, he sat up and walked over to the stairs, letting his feet drag behind him. The scowl on his face got more and more noticeable as he thought about all the problems that Meteora might cause. She never had told him who she was traveling with, but depending on who it was, he might not be able to shoo them off as easily as he did to her.
Even worse, this could ruin everything. His blood boiled at the thought. So many years of careful preparations, lying, and keeping it all a secret. All for it to tumble down now. Why now? Why couldn't they have just continued living in peace, his family believing a false fantasy?!
But that question would have to wait. There was another, more important one on his mind. Did she suspect anything? Did she know? She had to know that he was lying about something, but she didn't know exactly what. If she discovered the truth about the so-called food supply, about why they had really survived all this time, then the best he could hope for at this point was a quick death. He had made a promise to keep it a secret, no matter what, and now that little hybrid abomination, the "perfect example" of unity between monsters and Mewmans, was about to tear it all down.
He couldn't have that. As he racked his brain with ideas about how to stage a proper counterattack when Meteora came back with whoever she was with, he made his way up the stairs towards the bedrooms. One of them was for him and his wife, one of them was Dennis's, and the other was just a giant communal room. But even that wasn't enough all the time, so a good deal of his children just slept in the hall. Which was exactly what they were doing right now. Brudo grinned slightly upon seeing that Cudo has listened to him and hadn't woken everybody up. That would have been a disaster, both for him and everybody else. Now the only thing left to do with him was to convince him that it wasn't real.
As Brudo made it to the end of the hall, carefully stepping over his snoozing children, he found Cudo where he told him to wait, standing next to a broken vase and a wooden stool that looked like it had been to hell and back.
He cleared his throat, and prepared to do what he did best in this household. Lie.
"Cudo!" He said, before lowering his voice to a whisper. "What are you doing up?"
Cudo tilted his head and looked at his father as if he was another planet, doubtless confused by what appeared to be a sudden loss of memory.
"Ummm...what are you talking about?" Cudo asked. "You told me to stand here and wait for you, so that's what I've been doing."
"I did no such thing." Brudo mumbled. "I just woke up to use the bathroom downstairs, and now I find you here, standing around and staring at nothing like an idiot. Why are you awake, rather than napping along with everyone else? And don't give me any nonsense excuse."
Despite Cudo still being confused as anyone ever was, he could tell in his father's tone that he was just as confused. He really didn't know anything. But he couldn't have been dreaming about Meteora, could he? It had all been so real! The door lying on the floor, the burned out world outside, the blood dripping on the floor, it had been real! It had to-
"Well?!" Brudo asked expectantly. "I don't have all day here boy. Why are you awake?"
"I...had to use the bathroom, just like you." Cudo said.
Which, technically, wasn't a lie. "That's all."
"Hm. Well go and use the bathroom then. Downstairs one, so you don't wake up your siblings. Also, when you go back to sleep, put a blanket over your head so you muffle your own voice. I heard you talking in your sleep earlier. Something about Meteora butterfly and how the world ended."
"Oh…" Cudo said, his eyes darting to the side. Talking in his sleep? Had it really been a dream? he still wasn't completely sure with that answer. He had to make sure. And he knew how.
"Well, I'm gonna go now." He said, pushing past his father and going downstairs, using the bathroom being the furthest thing from his mind.
Brudo watched him go and then rubbed his face, a disaster narrowly avoided. That could have gone badly. Luckily for him that even after fifteen years, every single person in his house was still as gullible as ever. But it made sense, considering that the house-
"KNEW IT!" A shrill voice from downstairs screeched. Brudo literally jumped out of his slippers, while all the members of the Avarius family twisted and turned in their sleep, but didn't wake. Brudo pulled his slippers back on as fast he could and ran down the stairs, nearly jumping the last five. He looked around frantically for Cudo, and saw him in the painting room standing next to the family portrait.
"I knew it." He said, pointing to a small red spot on it. "I knew you weren't telling the whole truth. I wasn't talking in my sleep! That dream hadn't been a dream at all!"
"What are you talking abo-" Brudo started, before he saw what Cudo was pointing at and his heart rate doubled out of fear at the sight.
It was a single small speck of blood. Not yet completely dried, and laying directly on Ludo's face. It almost seemed to fit.
"Oh shit." Brudo said out loud, knowing that there was no way he could get out of this one. At least, not unless he thought of something fast.
"Oh! That!" Brudo said, laughing nervously. "No need to worry Cudo. I don't know what you think that is, but it's not that. You see, I was carrying some…...paint cans earlier, and I slipper, and they spilled open. Yes. Paint cans. I cleaned it up as best they could, but it seems I missed a spot or two."
"Or twenty." Cudo said, looking down at the various drops of blood staining the carpet. "And paints cans? Really? That's the best you can come up with dad?"
"Well, what do you think it is?" Brudo asked. "And don't disrespect me like that boy. Do you need another reminder over who has kept this family safe from the people outside? From the ones who hate and-"
"And don't exist?" Cudo said, hardly posing it as a question. "You know, one hour ago, I would have believed you. I would be treating you with the biggest respect right now, listening to your every word as if it was the law. Although after what I saw outside, what Meteora showed me, I wonder if anything you've said is the truth."
"You dare?" Brudo demanded, taking a step towards him. "What did I just say? Do not. Disrespect. Me! You and your crazy ideas Cudo. Where are you getting them from? Who put those thoughts in your head? Whatever you saw outside, you merely dreamt. Nothing more! Now-"
"Then why is the door broken?" Cudo asked, knowing he had his father stuck in a corner. "Who did that?"
"The people outside." Brud quickly said, fully aware that he was losing control of the situation. "They tried to break in while you were all asleep, so I stopped them. Chased them off."
"But if the doors broken, then why aren't they getting in right now?" Cudo asked. "They could just walk in whenever they wanted. What's keeping them from that? Is it because they've never been there at all dad? Is it because they've all been dead for fifteen years?!"
Brudo winced. How much did Meteora tell him? He didn't know what to do. He was fresh out of ideas here. He had to do something, anything that would ensure Cudo believed him.
"Listen Cudo." Brudo said, starting to sweat. "I am telling you the truth here. We cannot turn against each other in here, so please believe me. If we fight amongst ourselves, then we'll be doing the work for them!" He pointed at a boarded up window. "They would love to see us tear each other apart! They will attack us on sight! They-"
"I'd like to test that theory." Cudo said. "Let's go outside. Let's see if anyone's really out there. If they are, then I'll believe you. But if I see what I saw earlier, what Meteora told me to go and see, a burned-out wasteland that you kept hidden from us, then I'm telling everyone, and you're going to tell us why you hid it from us."
"Don't be stupid." Brudo said. "They will attack you. You will bleed. And you know what will happen next. Remember Manudo…"
"Yeah...the bleeding." Cudo said, reminiscing on Manudo's death. "I wonder if you have something to do with that too. I mean it's obviously not natural. It wasn't a part of the house before the merge. Before you shut us in. Did you do that? Did you kill Manudo?"
"You-you-how dare you!" Brudo yelled, furious. "I would never hurt Manudo. Out of all of you ungrateful little scamps, Manudo was one of my favorites! It broke my heart the day he died!"
"Oh please." Cudo said. "You never had any favorites. You never really cared for any of us. Not even mom. You only cared for your stupid stickers, and when those ran out, the only thing you cared about was keeping us in here. You know it's almost funny. I would never had said these things to you before. Hell, I'm not even sure if I knew them before now. But after I saw what's really outside, everything's becoming clearer by the second. It's almost like I was blind before, blind to the truth."
"There is no "truth" Cudo." Brudo stated. "No truth except for what I'm telling you!"
"Then let's do what I said!" Cudo yelled, his voice rising. "Let's take a peek outside! If they attack me and I bleed to death, then that's the way it's gonna be! But I know that that dream was no dream at all! It was too real. And it made too much sense now that I think about it…"
"You...you...no. No!" Brudo yelled. "I am your father. You will listen to me Cudo. You will go back upstairs and go back to your nap. You will never speak of this, as there is nothing to be spoken about."
"But I-"
"Quiet!" Brudo roared. "You are testing my patience here, if there is even any left. Stammering on about your fantasies of a world where I haven't protected all of you from danger, one where I've lied for a good deal of your life, and one where you met Meteora butterfly of all people."
"But I saw her here!" Cudo said. "She was here! She was standing right here! She was-"
"Cudo. Go upstairs." Brudo dictated. "I will not tell you again. Disobey me one more, tell me another one of your lies, and I will make sure that you-"
Da da da da, da da
Both Brudo and Cudo froze in place at the sound of someone knocking on their front door, a sound they hadn't heard for years. They both slowly turned they heads towards the door, looking at it as if they would both die instantly if they opened it.
"You uh, you should probably go answer that." Cudo said. "I think Meteora is back with her friends."
"Stay here and don't move." Brudo growled, walking towards the door, his heartbeat going a mile a minute. Once there, he put his ear up against it and listened. But before he had the time to hear a single sound, the door came crashing down on top of it, and Jenkins quickly stepped in, standing on top of the door and trapping him underneath it.
"Agh! Damn it!" Brudo cursed, before he peeked out from underneath the door saw who had down this to him. "Oh good." He groaned. "It's you. Thought you would have been dead by now."
"I could say the same for you. And you're right. It's me." Jenkins said, flashing him a smile and pushing his foot down harder on the door. "Boy, am I surprised to see you. It looks like you've been up to quite a bit! Holding up out here in the woods, living with your family, surviving the apocalypse, while somehow lying to everyone! Quite the feat you've accomplished! I'm almost impressed Brudo. Almost."
If Brudo could moved at all, then he would have been trying to get as far away from Jenkins as possible. He knew that tone. He had seen it before in meetings. It look cheerful and happy, but Brudo knew that Jenkins was furious. This would not end well for him, and they both knew it.
Behind Jenkins, Meteora and Mariposa came up behind him, checking out the place. Meteora carefully touched her nose, making sure that it wasn't going to start bleeding again, while Mariposa stepped past Brudo and Jenkins and looked around.
All the while Cudo stood where he was, shaking in fear. He caught Jenkins eye and the two stared at each other for a moment.
"I-I know you." Cudo stammered, his words laced with terror.
"Hm. And I don't know you." Jenkins said in response. "Meteora, who's this?"
"That's Cudo." Meteora said. "He was the first person I saw when I got here." She turned her attention towards him, looking at him as if he were an old friend. "Hey Cudo. Sorry we just barged in like this, but it was all Jenkins idea."
"Y-yeah. N-no problem." Cudo said, reflexively taking a few steps away from them. "What are you going to do to him?" He pointed at his father, still struggling from under the door.
"Oh him? I have quite a bit planned for him." Jenkins answered. "But I think the first thing I'll do is have him explain why the hell he's lied to you guys for fifteen years. And how you guys have really survived." He looked down at Brudo. "Your food story is utter bullshit Brudo. Non-spoiling food? Please. None of you know magic, and don't tell me that one of you learned it, because I'd never believe that."
"You're not getting anything out of me." Brudo growled. "Cudo! Go wake up your siblings! Tell them to help me! Chase these guys away and-"
"Oh shut up." Jenkins said. "Brudo, try and realize the kind of situation the two of you are in. I'm standing between Cudo and the stairs. Now take a good look at him. Do you really think he's gonna want to try and fight me to get to them."
Brudo glanced over at Cudo, who was still trembling so much he was having trouble standing, and it was plain to see that he in no way wanted to fight anyone.
Brudo cursed loudly, and started screaming to try and wake up the others, but Jenkins wasn't having any of that, and he slammed his boot into the side of Brudo's face, silencing him almost instantly.
"Urgh…why are you doing this?!" He choked out. "I know we were never friends before this whole mess, but we weren't mortal enemies either! Why are you acting like this? Have you gone as crazy as the others?!"
"Why? You want to know why?" Jenkins rhetorically asked him. "Because Brudo, you've been lying to your family for years, if what Meteora told me is correct. Imagine how shocked they'll be once they find out the truth of this world. What really became of it. All of them, having to face that reality. That's a horrible thing to drop on a person, and it sickens me just to think about it."
"They don't have to know." Brudo said. "You could just leave us be. They're not even awake right now. Only me and Cudo know. You could take him with you, he could survive out there with you, and the rest of us will stay here, ignorant and happ-urk!"
Brudo's monologue was interrupted by Jenkins punching him the throat, revolted by the ideas spewing out of Brudo's mouth. Cudo, after having heard his father's plan of leaving him with Jenkins and the others, almost looked ready to join in the beat down.
"And there it is." Jenkins said. "Am I really hearing what I think I heard? You just told us to take one of your sons, your own flesh and blood, to live with us out in that hellscape because you can't risk that he'll tell everybody?! What kind of father are you?!"
"I d-did what I had to." Brudo gurgled, clutching his throat. "What was necessary for me. For all of us! I did it once, I'll do it again. They must never know the truth. Nobody can ever know."
"Too bad." Jenkins scoffed. "You're going to tell them everything. Not because we want to, but because they deserve to know. And then you're going to tell us everything. A good old fashioned interrogation. And as for your earlier comment about us not being enemies, you're right. We weren't enemies Brudo. But times have changed, and out here, friends can become enemies in a second. I know. Meteora and Mariposa know it. We all know it. It's time you and your family knew."
Jenkins then looked at Cudo, no longer trembling, but still scared enough that he could hardly look any of them in the eye.
"Cudo, right?" Jenkins said. "I want you to do something. Go and wake all your siblings up. Tell them to come down here, but nothing else. I'm gonna have your father here explain everything to them. Should be one hell of a show."
"T-then what?" Cudo asked.
"Simple. We're going to learn everything we want to know. Right Brudo?"
"Go to hell."
"Hm, we'll have to work on your manners before we get to the questions. Now Cudo, go and do what I told you. Word for word."
"R-right." Cudo said, slowly walking into the foyer and past Brudo and Jenkins. He took one last glance at them both and sprinted up the stairs, before attempting to jostle everybody awake.
"So...should we just wait down here?" Mariposa asked.
"Yup. Actually, both of you grab his arms." Jenkins ordered. "Help me pull him up."
Meteora and Mariposa nodded and moved towards Brudo, but when they got close to him, he started flailing widely and they took a step back.
"Don't touch me!" He yelled at them. "I am a Lord of Mewni! I will not be disrespected in this way! I will not allow myself to be-"
"Nobody cares." Jenkins said. "Even before Earthni was burned to a crisp, you had no real power. And what did you think was going to happen with you playing the lord card? These guys don't care. They don't respect you just because you were a lord."
"Actually, it's mainly the fact that you've got him pinned to the ground and he's whining like a child." Mariposa said. "But sure, let's go with that."
Brudo growled at the numerous insults being delivered to him and kept trying to get up, but Jenkins, already tired of this, got off the door and dragged him up himself.
"Happy now?" He asked, holding Brudo by one of his bathrobes sleeves. "Enjoy that feeling while it lasts. I don't think you're going to be happy after your big reveal. I don't think anyone is."
"I'm not going to tell them anything." Brudo snapped at him. "I'd rather die than reveal the truth to them. And you know that if you kill me, then they'll never believe you. I'm the reason not one they'll listen to."
"You're right." Jenkins said. "You are the only one they trust. And I can't kill you. But as for your kids...maybe I'll kill one of them."
"WHAT?!" Brudo, Meteora, and Mariposa all yelled at the same time, shocked that he would even consider such a thing.
"I said, I'll kill one of your kids." Jenkins repeated. "If that doesn't get you to talk, then I'll threaten another, and then down the line we'll go."
Brudo was about to speak, but Meteora stepped inside and interrupted them.
"No. Nononono." She said. "That's-thats going too far. I get we need to hear whatever information he has to spill, but killing a bunch of innocent kids is not the way to do it. If you try that, then...then...then I will stop you. You know I can."
Jenkins rolled his eyes and responded to this by letting go of Brudo and then simultaneously slapping both of his ears at the same time. Brudo let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground clutching them, an insane ringing sound now screaming into his ears. He lay there writhing in agony, temporarily deaf.
"I'm not going to kill any of them." Jenkins quickly said, knowing he was short on time. "Maybe I'd threaten them if he doesn't talk, but I would never actually hurt any of them. Why would I? That's not me. That's not what I do. So just go along with it, but know that it won't escalate unless they attack first. Got it?"
Both Meteora and Mariposa exchanged looks and then nodded at the same time, and Jenkins responded with a simple, "good." They both waited until Brudo had finally stopped yelling in pain and panted on his arms and knees, the pain he just suffered almost greater than anything he had ever felt.
"Can you hear me?" Jenkins asked him, raising his voice. "Please say yes. I'm pretty sure I hit you so that I didn't make you permanently deaf, but I'm not sure."
"I can hear you." Brudo growled. "Barely, but it's there. Why did you do that? What was the point?"
"You were pissing me off, and I wanted to teach you a lesson." Jenkins lied, although it wasn't entirely a lie. "Nothing else. Now get up. I think I can hear Cudo coming downstairs with the family…"
Brudo's gaze shifted upwards towards the top of the stairs, where he could see Cudo and the rest of his family crowded around, taking the steps one at a time. All of them looked extremely tired, but the second they saw the sight at the bottom of the steps, they were instantly wide-awake. When every one of them finally got to the stairs and saw what was going on, they all froze, looking like a giant group of statues. Jenkins briefly surveyed them before speaking.
"Hello." He said, trying to be as friendly as possible. "I'm sure many of you recognize me, but if you don't then my name is Jenkins, former leader of the E.D.F., and if you don't know what that was, then it was an organization that dealt with extra-dimensional threats that we...took care of, so to speak."
Jenkins then pointed at Meteora and Mariposa, both of whom were just waiting for the whole ordeal to be over.
"As for these two, this is Meteora butterfly, daughter of queen Eclipsa and king Globgor, and the other one is Mariposa Diaz, daughter Angie and Rafael Diaz. Maybe you know those people too or maybe you don't, but in the current moment, it makes little difference."
Everybody at the top of the stairs shifted where they stood, several of them murmuring along themselves as to whether that was really Meteora and Jenkins, as well as a few conversations as to who the heck Mariposa was.
"So," Jenkins continued. "You must be wondering what me and my adoptees are doing here, barging into your home like we own the place. Well, I'm going to be honest, I hadn't planned to be here this morning. None of us had. But Meteora took a walk through the woods, discovered you, and...here we are now."
"Get to the point." Meteora mumbled, leaning in close to him. "I don't think they're just gonna stand around much longer."
Jenkins nodded, and continued talking. "But all that's irrelevant. You see, I just discovered something about a half hour ago. Your brother Cudo discovered it as well. Brudo's know about it his whole life, since he's the one who did it, so to speak. Brudo? Would you like to tell them the truth?"
All eyes fell upon Brudo, still kneeling on the floor and slightly hard of hearing. But he heard enough. He started panicking inside, knowing that he had to either tell his children and wife the truth, or Jenkins might hurt or even kill one of them. He wasn't sure just how truthful Jenkins was being with that threat, but considering the things Brudo saw him do in the past, he wouldn't put us past him to commit such an atrocious act.
"I…" He started, struggling to continue. Seeing his hesitation, Jenkins leaned toward his ears and whispered into it, making sure that the only thing staining his voice was pure malice.
"Tell them." He hissed. "Or you know what I'll do. If you have any heart at all, any part of you that still cares about them even the tiniest bit, then you better start flapping your gums and say what I want you to."
Brudo winced at these words and sighed in defeat. He had no other choice. He looked at his family, staring down at him in shock and confusion. How much did he care about them? He had to do in some way. They were all he had left. No more stickers. No more Mewnian high council. No more nothing.
He knew what he had to do.
"The truth is…" He started, directing his gaze at them. "I lied. I lied about everything. The world outside doesn't hate us. Because it isn't there anymore."
A small gasp emitted from everyone of Brudo's children, but before they could ask him what he meant, Brudo continued on, unable to stop now that he had started.
"What I mean by this is that fifteen years ago, the world, and most of its people, was destroyed by a large number of nukes that had been launched by Seth of Septaris." He revealed, resulting in several more gasps. "We only survived because of the spell, and I locked everyone in here before that because it was told it was coming."
"Spell?" Jenkins asked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you-"
"I thought there was no other way." Brudo continued, interrupting him. "So I lied to everyone. You children, my wife, even to myself, and I made sure that you all would survive this mess, no matter what. I did it all for you."
Finally finished, Brudo fell to the floor, grabbing his hair and pulling a few strands out. His children and wife were too appalled to move, while Jenkins, Meteora, and Mariposa were all exchanging glances, wondering what he could have meant by "spell." Meteora, however, wasn't confused by this, but instead intrigued by it. That was what she had theorized earlier. That some kind of spell had protected the house, making it impervious to the blast and the radiation. Or was it something else? She was about to think about more, but a voice she didn't recognize spoke up from the crowd of children, and all the theories in her mind came to a standstill.
"You…" The unknown voice said, filled with nothing but rage. "You what? You-you locked us all in here? No. No no, this can't be real."
Everyone looked down at little Snudo, currently having what looked like an existential crisis at the top of the stairs. He fell to his knees and started breathing faster like he was in the middle of a panic attack, and several of his siblings reacted quickly and grabbed him before carrying him off out of view.
"...Sorry about that." Dennis said, the only one of Brudo's children that wasn't overly horrified by the recent revelation. He was still having trouble processing it all, but was doing his best to keep his cool. He had already suspected something was up for years, just not something of this magnitude. He had been partly ready for this. But not a single one could have been fully ready. Even Cudo, who had learned of this a half hour before anyone else, was still in a state of shock. It's one thing to suspect that something is wrong, but it's quite another to find out that you were right, which is exactly what was going on with the Avarius family.
"He does that sometimes." Dennis continued, watching his siblings carry Snudo off. Sensing that more than a few of them were about to either attack Brudo or maybe even kill him for his lies, he turned to them and put on his best serious face.
"All of you go back to the communal bedroom and wait there." He ordered. "Don't do anything else, except wait."
Nobody moved.
"Go!" Dennis yelled, although it was less out of anger and more out of desperation. Everybody flinched at this sudden outburst, and soon retreated back to the bedroom. They all scrambled away, and the only ones that remained were Dennis, Cudo, and Lady Avarius. Dennis looked expectantly at Cudo, but he didn't budge.
"Cudo, go with everyone else." Dennis told him. "We don't need everyone here for this."
"I'm staying." Cudo said. "I was the first one to learn about it. I want to see what's going to happen next. I need to."
"No, you don't." Lady Avarius said. "Cudo, please go back to the bedroom. Don't make this situation any more painful than it has to be."
Cudo looked from his mother to his older brother, then to his father, and then he reluctantly shuffled away, grumbling as he did so. He won't over to the bedroom door and entered before slamming it behind him, and now it was just them.
Dennis then turned towards Jenkins and the others, who were busy keeping an eye over Brudo, currently still laying on the floor.
"So, uh, what now?" Dennis asked, catching Jenkins attention. "What are you going to do?"
"What am I going to do? Well, first things first, you two can go with the rest of your siblings into that bedroom." Jenkins said. "You played your part, albeit a minor one. What comes next is a bit of a private affair."
"Hold on, that's not fair." Lady Avarius protested. "You can't just have him reveal all those things and then tell us that we're done. You forced us into this, we deserve to see it out till the end."
"Funny, that's oddly similar to what Cudo said." Jenkins countered. "Kind of unfair to him for you to be here, hm? What do you hope to gain by staying?"
"Well, what do you hope to gain?" Dennis said, repeating his question. "What are you going to do next? Kill him? Torture him? Arrest him?"
"Ha!" Jenkins exclaimed, coming out less of a voluntary laugh but more as a reflex. "Arrest him. That's hilarious Dennis. Didn't you hear his story? The whole world ending and stuff? I can't arrest him. I don't have any authority to do that. I don't have any authority at all. But really, I'm going to ask him some questions." Jenkins said realizing he was starting to drone on."Your dad here told Meteora a couple of things, mainly about how you guys have survived and about him locking you in here. Now, I don't know why he told her any of that in the first place, but I don't really care, because it's all full of holes anyways. So I'm going to have him tell me the truth. Unless, of course, he refuses, upon which I might actually kill him."
"Please don't." Dennis pleaded, walking to the bottom of the steps. "I may not like him right now after what he did for fifteen years, but I'd rather there not be any more death in this house. Not again…"
"Again?" Jenkins asked, unsure as to what Dennis was referring to.
"Oh…" Meteora started. "He's referring to Manudo, another one of his siblings. He died here a long time ago. I would have mentioned it earlier, but we arrived before I could get to that part."
"I'm...sorry for you me loss." Jenkins said, doing his best to be sympathetic. After all the death he's been through, he still had trouble acting non-apathetically towards it.
"It's okay." Dennis said. "I just wish that this house wasn't the way it was."
"Yeah, no offense, but there's a lot of ways to die in here." Mariposa said. "Looks like the ceilings about to collapse in at any second."
"Not that." Dennis said. "Did you guys know about the whole infinite bleeding thing?"
Jenkins was about to say no, but Meteora stepped in and responded with a quick "yes."
"Yes?" Jenkins said. "Lemme guess, something else you didn't get the time to tell us about?"
"Yeah." Meteora said. "Brudo told me that there's something in this house that prevents people from healing wounds or something. It makes them bleed to death. Right?" She looked at Dennis. "That's what happens?"
Dennis nodded. "That's pretty much it. We don't know why, but if somebody gets cut, bruised, or whatever, and they stayed bleeding, it doesn't stop. They bleed until they die of it. Manudo cut himself, and no matter how much we tried to stop it, it always found a way to come back. He died, and we learned to always be as careful as possible. That's why all the sharp edges in the house have been filed down. We had to make them dull. We couldn't risk what happened to Manudo happening to someone else."
Jenkins and Mariposa took a quick glance around the room and saw that the edges of everything were indeed filed down, and there wasn't a single point anywhere in the room. It would be impossible for is rot cut themselves by accident.
"Huh." Didn't even notice that." He said. "Got any idea why?"
"No clue." Dennis shrugged. "Probably the same things that kept us from ever having to eat, and made us stop aging."
"...I'm sorry what?" Jenkins asked, now convinced that he was in a dream. "Never having to eat? Made you stop aging? Are you guys immortal or something? Is...is this real? Am I dreaming?"
"Uh, I'm pretty sure this is real." Dennis said. "As for your questions about the immortality...I think you should sit down for this."
"I'm fine. You can-" Jenkins started, before being interrupted by Mariposa.
"We'd love to sit down! Thanks for the offer!" She said, quickly speed-walking over to the portrait room and taking a seat on one of the chairs. Jenkins and Meteora watched her run off in confusion, but quickly did the same, as Meteora took a seat in the other chair while Jenkins stood between the two. Dennis followed them and prepared to give them what they wanted to hear, while Lady Avarius dragged Brudo into the portrait room as well, where he fell to the floor again. She then took a spot on the far side of the room, looking at the family paintings with a newfound contempt.
"So, what part do you want to know about first?" Dennis asked.
"Actually, something I want to know." Mariposa said. "Why are you guys telling us all this? Meteora mentioned that Brudo told all of you that the outside world hates and shuns you. I would figure that you would be pretty distrustful of strangers. So what are you just telling us whatever we want to know?"
"I mean...I just learned that the outside world hating us was a giant lie, so any distrust I had for that died with it. Also, I knew something was up from the beginning. The outside world never really hated us. Brudo practically dragged me back here to keep order among the rest of my siblings. I only stayed here for them, not him."
"Huh. Yeah, that makes sense." Mariposa said.
"And also because I'm terrified of him." Dennis added, pouring towards Jenkins. "Jenkins, wasn't it? Yeah, my dad claimed that you were basically hellspawn back in the day. He really hates you."
"Heh. I hate him too. Depends on how you define hellspawn though." Jenkins said. "But don't worry about me. If anything, Meteora's the one that I would sic on you if you tried anything stupid. She's got magic. She ten times more now than I ever could have been."
"Sic?!" Meteora exclaimed. "What, like some kind of dog?!"
"I, I didn't mean it like that." Jenkins said. "You know what I meant."
"No, I'm not sure I do!" Meteora said. "Ugh, just forget about it. We can squabble about this later. As for right now, Dennis, the first thing I'd like to know is if that food supply actually exist or not. Brudo said that you and your siblings wanted to try out Earth food soon after the dimensions merged so you went and bought a ton of it, and that's how you've survived. It's all bullshit, right?"
"...That's the stupidest explanation I've ever heard." Dennis said. He then looked down at Brudo, the look he gave him being one of great disappointment. "Really? That's the excuse you gave her? You couldn't have come up with anything better? You had fifteen years to come up with an explanation, and that's what you went with?"
"Knew it." Meteora said. "Never believed that one for a second. Although really, what is it? How did you survive all this time? I believe you mentioned something about how you don't have to eat…"
"Oh boy, that's a bit of a tale." Dennis said.
"Then lay it on us." Jenkins said. "Trust me, however weird it is, I've heard weirder."
"If you insist." Dennis said, before taking a deep breath. "Okay, so basically, when my father shit everyone into this house, we only had a limited food supply. Apparently he thought it was much greater than what we had, but it didn't really matter, because even if we had food stockpiled in every square inch of the house, it would only last a year. At most. Which reminds me…"
Dennis walked over to Brudo and leaned down towards his face, which was currently staring at the floor."
"Hey." He said. "What was your big plan? Starve us here or something? Did you think any of this through when you got the idea to shut us all in here? Now that I finally have the chance to ask these questions, I think I should take advantage of that."
Brud remained silent, but looked up at Dennis and stared him directly in the eye.
"Well?" He continued. "Are you going to tell me or something? Or do I-"
Without warning, Brudo raised his fist and slammed it into Dennis's face, leaving a giant bruise on his cheek and sending him stumbling backwards. Brudo then leapt up and attempted to hit him again, but Jenkins rushed over to him with lighting speed and slammed his right knee into Brudo's stomach, making him curl up and fall to the floor again.
"Dennis! Are you alright!" Lady Avarius said, rushing over to him. "Y-you're not bleeding, are you?"
"No, I'm fine." Dennis said, rubbing his cheek. He straightened himself and then looked over at his father, although by now he hardly even considered him to be family. "What were you thinking?" He asked. "What world do you live in where you think you would actually get more than one hit on me? Do you just ignore your surroundings until they they stop ignoring you, or are you just plain stupid?"
Brudo didn't say anything and only let out a pained groan, still suffering from the blow Jenkins delivered to him.
"Jenkins...if he tries anything like that again, you can kill him you want." Dennis said, glaring at is father with pure hatred. "Manudo died because of him shutting us in here, so I think it's fair that we get a life for a life."
"Got it." Jenkins said, although inside he was slightly disturbed by Dennis's nonchalant way of telling him to kill Brudo. The truth had been revealed to him just ten minutes ago, but already he acted like he had lived out in the wasteland for his whole life.
"Right. Back to the questions then." Dennis said. "So, the food ran out pretty fast, and then-"
"You…" Brudo's raspy, pained voice called out, trying to
lift himself up off the ground. "You...don't understand…"
"Well well well , are you finally ready to talk?" Jenkins asked him. "Or are you going to-"
"Shut up." Brudo hissed at him. "I'm not talking to you. Why would I ever want to do that? I'm talking to him."
He pointed at Dennis, who's fist clenched up at Brudo's mere words.
"Yeah? What do you have to say?" Dennis asked. "Are you gonna apologize for punching me in the face? Spoilers: I won't forgive you."
"Don't make me laugh." Brudo moaned. "I did that...because of your reprimanding of what I did to all of you. You're angry because I shut us in here. You have no idea why I really did that. You can't possibly understand."
"Oh, I can't wait to hear this." Dennis said. "What, did the voices in your head tell you too? Did they tell you that you had to board up the house? You really think I'm going to take pity on you for-"
"You should be thanking me!" Brudo yelled, getting to his feet, before the pain coming from his stomach forced him to fall to the ground again. "If not for me, then you would have never survived the apocalypse. If not for me, we would have all burned out there. If not for me, every single one of us would be dead! You can't dispute that fact."
"I...well...ugh." Dennis groaned. His father had a point. Based on what he'd seen, Brudo shutting them all in here really had saved them from the apocalypse. But did that make it right? Would he rather die by the truth, or live by a lie?
He already knew the answer, and Brudo knew it too. He would rather live.
"You see?" Brudo said. "I was right to do this. Without me, you'd be dead. It doesn't matter what else you say to me. That is the cold, hard truth Dennis. And if you hadn't believed it, then you would have perished with the rest, just like your worthless brother."
"...Ludo?" Dennis said, the faintest flicker of anger sparking his voice. "Are you talking about Ludo?"
"Who else?" Brudo said. "Based on the tone in your voice just now, it seems you still idolize him. The person who brought shame to this family. I must say I have never been more disappointed. Fifteen years of telling you what he really was didn't seem to stick.
"He did not bring shame to this family." Dennis hissed. "The only shame he ever brought on anybody was on himself. But I helped him. I helped him get better. I saw it! He was a better person! But you! You trapped me in here with the others, just when it seems like he would never go back to his old ways! And now he's probably dead, and I'll never get to say goodbye to him like I should have!"
"He's not dead." Meteora chimed in, unable to watch another second of this.
Brudo, Dennis, and Lady Avarius all turned to face Meteora simultaneously, all of them putting on a different expression.
"What did you say?" Dennis asked her. "He's still alive?"
"Yeah." Meteora said. "Long story short, I used a spell to talk to my mother, and she told me that he's still alive. Well, um, he was still alive when he left to go live by himself. He thought you guys had all died."
Dennis didn't say anything, but merely froze in place. Brudo scowled greatest upon learning that his most hated son was still thriving out there, and Lady Avarius simply stared at Ludo in the family portrait, who was desperately attempting to fit in the frame.
"So what you're saying is that there's still a chance?" Dennis finally said. "That he's still out there?"
"I guess so." Meteora said, shrugging. "She didn't really give me much information on him, but I know for a fact that he survived the initial apocalypse. He just left to go be by himself."
"Hm. You hear that?" Dennis asked, turning towards Brudo. "Look who's not dead. Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing that you were really hoping that he had died out there."
"It makes little difference." Brudo said. "As long as he stays far, far away from here."
"We'll see about that. If he ever comes back here one day, then I'll be sure to welcome him with open arms." Dennis said. "And as for you...well, I don't think you'll have much of a say in anything at that point."
"Don't be stupid." Brudo said. "You still need me. This family still needs me. Have you listened to a single thing I've told you?"
"You're insane." Dennis said, before finally giving up on him. "Jenkins, pick him up off the floor and throw him outside or something. Just get him out of here."
"As tempting as that is, I can't do that just yet." Jenkins said. "I still have a few questions for you myself Brudo. Whether you answer them willingly is up to you, but either way, you're going to tell me. I don't care what I have to do to make you talk."
"Are you seriously going to torture me?" Brudo asked him, his face now one of horror. "What is wrong with you?! What happened to being the protector of Earth, of all humans and Mewmans and monsters?!"
"Well, I never asked for a separate dimension to be dumped onto mine." Jenkins said. "That little event made me lose a lot of my patience for anything. Then the apocalypse took the rest of it away. I'm starting to recover from that, I try to be a nice guy ever once in a while, but if you knew me at all Brudo, then you'd know I would do anything to accomplish what I think is best."
"Uh, dude, you're starting to sound kind of evil." Meteora. "We don't have to torture him or anything like that."
"Pft. That was definitely not me being evil." Jenkins said. "That one I stopped being a long time ago."
"Ehhh…" Meteora and Mariposa said at the same time, earning them both a glare from Jenkins, and they both looked away from him in different directions.
"But anyways," He continued. "I'm not going to torture you Brudo. Considering the state you're in right now, I'm sure you'll crack by yourself sooner or later. That or I can just have your wife tell you to."
"Oh, leave me out of this." Lady Avarius said. "I don't even know why I stayed down here. And it wouldn't work anyways. Brudo doesn't respect me in the slightest. Don't involve me in something I want no part of Jenkins." She spat the last word, almost with contempt.
"Okay, jeez, sorry." Jenkins said, putting his right hand up defensively. "Fine. If that's not an option, then I'll figure something out. But you will talk by the end of this Brudo. I swear on my life."
"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched." Brudo said. "If you really think it's going to be easy, then you've got another thing coming."
"Oh I know." Jenkins said. "That's why I'm going to ask Dennis first. You can just fill in the blanks. Almost no work at all on your part. Dennis. Could you tell me everything about what's going on here?"
"Gladly." Dennis said. "But mostly because I hate my father right now. So, it all started when he walked up to me one day and asked me to come back here, and then-"
"Hey."
Meteora flinched visibly at the Voice suddenly coming back into her head, and she suddenly found it a lot harder to concentrate on Dennis's story. His voice was quickly drowned out by the Voice's voice appearing out of nowhere.
"Wow. Looks like I missed a lot." It said, although it's tone indicated it had been watching the whole time.
"No kidding." Meteora muttered, Dennis's story now incomprehensible to her. "What the hell have you been doing? It's been hours."
"It has not been hours. But what happened?"
"Eh, give me a minute." Meteora said, before directing her voice towards the rest of the room. "Hey, um, I'm just step outside for a second. I need to...do something."
"Oh." Dennis said. "Well, there's a bathroom down the hall if you need it. No need to go outside and-"
"No." Meteora said quickly. "Not that. I just need to...be back in a while!" She then walked out of the room as fast as she could, earning a look of bewilderment from everybody. She stepped over the broken door and then disappeared from view, heading in a random direction away from the house.
"Well…" Jenkins started, too invested in Dennis's story to care. "What was that you were saying about the spell?"
"That's complicated." Dennis said. "You see, I think one day my dad was contacted by some weird being…"
As the story continued inside, outside Meteora had walked away from the clearing the house was in and had gone back up no the woods, a deafening silence now surrounding her. She leaned up against a tree and let herself sink to the ground, several broken branches scratching her arms and legs.
"Why did you leave like that?" The Voice asked. "Or leave at all really…"
"I'm going to be honest with you, I don't know." Meteora said. "Maybe I just wanted to get out of that house. It has a weird atmosphere. Like I could feel something in there. But even if there want anything in that place, I definitely needed some fresh air. I can only take so many reveals."
"Speaking of which, mind telling me what happened?" The Voice asked. "I'm kind of in the dark here."
"Why?" Meteora asked. "Shouldn't you have seen all that?"
"I wasn't looking. And I was doing something rather important." The Voice said. "Remember, I was working on seeing if I could find another way for you to get that monster-butterfly form. And I regret to inform you that I didn't."
"Well, thanks for trying anyways." Meteora said, greatly disappointed. "But nevermind that for now. Okay, so basically, what happened is that Brudo and his family have been living in that house from before even the apocalypse began, and then they somehow survived it. Dennis was about to tell us how, but as you saw, I left before he got to that part."
"Could...you maybe go back inside and listen? I would like to know?"
"Actually, I want to know something first." Meteora said. "Why didn't you know? Shouldn't you have seen these guys with your omniscience or whatever?"
"No. I didn't see them. And that's the confusing part. I should have, but I didn't. Something was hiding them from me. To me, it just looked like the house was empty, so I didn't investigate further. But now, it clearly wasn't. Something is blocking my vision."
"That's terrifying." Meteora said as casually as she could muster. "Only other time something like that ever happened to you was during the nukes launch. You said you couldn't see anything."
"Yes. And now it's back. And for some reason, preventing me from seeing the Avarius's. As if they were important in any way."
"They're not important?"
"No."
"Well, the universe begs to differ." Meteora said. "But alright. I'll go back inside. Hope Dennis doesn't mind starting from the beginning…"
"Wait." The Voice said. "Now that you're already out here, there's something I want you to do. A new spell."
"Oh goody." She said, sounding rather uninterested. "What do we got this time? Defense spell? Attack spell? Healing spell? Are we going to work on that monster-butterfly form?"
"No, no, no, and...no. None of those." The Voice said.
"Then what is it?" Meteora asked. "Because I don't really see why else it-"
"Meteora…" The Voice said, it's tone full of anticipation. "Have you ever heard of a little thing called...time-travel?"
"..."
"Meteora? Are you-"
"...No. Way."
End chapter 30
A/N: Well, this should be fun. Next chapter will have a twist in it that I've been saving for a while, How the Avarius's survived will be revealed, as well as a callback or two.
But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.