It was dark at first, he was surrounded by nothingness until he too became nothing.

Or at least, that's what he thought at first.

Suddenly a heavy weight overcame Quirrel along with a familiar, stinging sensation in his chest. He could feel the aches and strains from his tired muscles in arms—and legs?!—along with the added familiarity of heavy eyelids. That's when he realized that he was back; he was back in his body again.

Though he was so used to being weightless—being able to naturally levitate and be immune to the natural gravity of the world—the sudden weight made the exhausted scholar dizzy and nauseous. He couldn't help but mutter a quiet moan as a sudden wave of pain stretched across his mind when he tried to blindly reiterate himself, hoping to stop the vertigo before it climaxed into a more passive-aggressive form of motion sickness.

His movement was stiff and robotic, the body still feeling a little alien and unwell from him being separated from it for so long. Quirrel went to subconsciously lean against the edge of the pool, resting his head on the hard, yet comfortable ledge.

Although his senses have yet to fully come back to him, he could hear the lapping and splashing of the water, followed by the feeling of his head being picked up and laid against something soft. Then he felt an arm wrap around his back and lay against his opposite side, pulling him closer to the now softer edge of the spring. He didn't need to open his eyes to see who it was that he was leaning against.

As if he needed further proof, a familiar whisper lightly touched his conscious. QuirrelOkay QuirrelOkay?

Quirrel instinctively pressed his head harder against the soft cushion. "Y-yes…" He mumbled. "Just….tired…"

Quirrel could feel the shade lord relax at his weary answer, one of their hands stroking his head.

Metoo Metoo Sleep Sleep

Quirrel didn't need to be convinced, he didn't even last a minute.


The grimmchild was disheartened. And wet.

They hated wet!

But they'd rather be wet if it meant they could be with their caretaker again. If they were here that is.

The shade lord left them at the edge of the spring so they could snuggle make sure Quirrel was okay without also having to worry about the child falling in again.

Luckily, the water was much warmer than the water in the City of Tears so they weren't as cold as before, but that wasn't the problem.

Grimmchild still misses their Ghost.

They knows they're close. They can practically taste the flame their charm beaconed. Yet it was nowhere to be found! No matter which we way they go it seems to always be the same; they were close but not close enough. As before, it felt like the flame was being muffled, as if something was trying to snuff out the flame from the charm.

They absentmindedly turned to look at the dark behemoth leaning against the scholar, if they knew better, they bet that that monster had something to do with it.

Maybe it ate ghost? The thought drained the color from the child's face and they immediately scurried away from the edge of the spring over to the talking trio of bugs on the other side of the room that congregated to chat while others rested.

Without batting an eye, the wet grimmchild maneuvered in-between the triangle and hid in front of the large godseeker, making sure the child was out of sight and hidden from the shadelord's perspective, even though the lord of shade was sound asleep.

The feeling of something wet nudging against her leg made the godseeker stop speaking to look down and notice the trembling child with a look of fright plastered on their pale face.

"God of nightmares, what troubles you so?" The godseeker said softly, taking extra care not to startle the already startled child.

The child only croaked in response before roughly nudging their head harder into her thigh.

Before the godseeker could do anything, Myla walked over and went to pet the grimmchild's back. She couldn't hear what the little round one was saying, but it was enough to catch the little one's attention for them to remove their head against the godseeker's leg to get a good look at her. She continued to talk very softly to the child, calming them down enough to allow her to hold the shivering child and hug them tightly.

Watching the cute exchange unfold, the shaman laughed. "Ho ho, poor thing. Myla you sure do have a way of helping others!"

Myla's cheeks flushed at the compliment. "T-thank you. I'm just glad I was able to help…him?" Myla's face turned two shades darker in embarrassment. "I-I don't know their gender…"

"Most gods don't have one." The godseeker replied, offering to take the child into their own claws. Myla happily gave the child to her as she continued. "Though some prefer having a specific representation of themselves that falls into either/or. I know because I have met some that wanted to be seen as a Mother or a Father to all their children. This one," she emphasized with her claw by lightly booping its nose, "their previous incarnations have always preferred being male."

Myla gave the godseeker a blank stare but kept nodding her head, not understanding a word she said but not wanting to be rude either. Luckily the shaman at her side gave her the aide she needed. "Higher beings are very different from us Myla; emotionally, spiritually, and physically. The way they are defined is on a whole other field of understanding, most of which can't even begin to understand let alone learn. So it's okay if you don't understand."

"I can." The godseeker mumbled quietly to herself.

"So…it's a boy?" Myla asked.

"Yes." He replied.

"Will they ever change their mind and decide to be a girl instead?"

The shaman chuckled. "Who knows." He placed a comforting hand on her head. "You are a very sweet bug, to worry over something so trivial, but I'm sure they'll let you know if he decides to change it."

She smiled and nodded her head in understanding.

Meanwhile the godseeker's attention went back to the less-frightened child that seemed to spare a glimpse at the shade lord and quirrel in the hot spring.

"Does the shade lord worry you?" She asked quietly, her head following the child's gaze.

The child let out a noise that seemed to be a combination of a mew and growl.

She stroked the child's head softly. "There is nothing to be afraid of. Though their power is great and their ability to consume any and everything is indeed frightening, they have shown no aggression towards us and only the foes that dared strike against it."

The child didn't seem to be convinced as he continued to growl softly in the shade lord's direction; starting to convince himself that the monster did indeed eat little ghost and is feeding off h chisarm. How else did the feeling of the flames being extinguished arise then? Void obviously. Thankfully it's a flame that acts as a summoning and not as a life force for the nightmare heart.

As the child continued to stew in his own mental cage they had made, the godseeker was in her own, the gears turning away the dust as her memories fluttered to life. Back when the god of gods was just a little vessel and she thought they were a filthy mongrel that somehow got passed her mental boundaries. She remembered now that there were a few times the god of nightmare's offspring tagged along on some of the battles she had witnessed. It was clear they had a thriving companionship between the two, and yet right now the child acts as if the shade lord is not the same person.

Maybe the child didn't know they were one and the same? Or perhaps believe they are a completely different entity altogether? The godseeker doubted the latter, it was very clear the moment She and the shade lord had awakened from the destruction of godhome that they were the same fighter, they could feel their vibrant core inside their new body just as it once inhabited its old one. On top of that, they're unemotional mannerisms (though now they seemed to be full of emotion as if they were suddenly gifted with soul) and reaction to her when they met again after her home was destroyed showed they held all their memories.

And yet the child wasn't with them when they had awakened, so maybe that was why? Whatever the case may be, the godseeker wasn't going to let this stand. She must help her deity anyway she can, even if it was something as trivial as reuniting old companions.

"Child," the godseeker began, nudging the child to look back up at her. It took a moment for him to realize she was trying to get their attention and looked up at her curiously. She then pointed her free claw to the shade lord. "Does not thou recognize them?"

The child was confused, of course he knew what it was. It's the monster everyone keeps calling 'shade lord' or something. He tilted his head slightly and mrowed as if to say he didn't understand.

The godseeker hummed in thought, looking back at the tired lord of shade when an idea surfaced. She turned back to the shaman and pill bug. "I'll be right back."

She then slowly shuffled over to the scholar and the small giant. The minute she started heading over to them though, the child tried to climb out of her claws only for her to squeeze him tighter in her hold. "Calm yourself O god of nightmares, I'm trying to help."

When she finally reached close enough to be touching distance away from the sleepy bugs, she spoke softly to get their attention. "O great god of gods…"

The black figure holding the sleeping scholarly seemed to slump their shoulders in a 'oh great what now' motion before they slowly turned their head to witness the scene of a child throwing a mini tantrum in the godseeker's arms as he wiggled and squirmed like mad to get out of her clutches. The calm, stoic face mask and the softer tone she had just spoke as well only added to the awkward scene in front of them.

"I apologize for disturbing you from your slumber but I believe this is important." She continued.

The child continued to hiss loudly, almost too loud to actually listen to her speak, trying to retaliate by biting her but she spun him in a way so he couldn't reach any part of her. They could even see the two bugs in the back watching, the shaman laughing while Myla looked worried.

Ghost didn't want to move from their spot in case it woke Quirrel up, but at this point the loud hissing and growling might do that instead. Compromising, the shade lord left the upper pair of his arms holding Quirrel where they were and instead rotated their head and lower pair of arms 180 degrees to fully face the godseeker in a very unnerving fashion. The act made the godseeker flinch but otherwise fine, the grimmchild however immediately stopped what he was doing and gave them a horrified look before scrunching himself up into a ball– Myla even let out a small shriek before shrinking on herself when she realized what she had done.

Ghost was taken aback. They didn't mean to scare anyone, if they had known they wouldn't have done it. How were they supposed to know rotating parts of their body would be unnerving? They could name a few bugs that did it. Though now that they think about it, it did unnerve Ghost a little when the bugs did it in front of them – and most of them did come from Deepnest of all places…

"I apologize for the reaction; your abilities are still able to impress us mortals." She said, petting the now shivering ball in her claws. "But I came here to highlight something very important." She knelt down and held the ball out for Ghost to hold. They hesitated at first before cradling the small child close to them. "I don't think they know who you are- no, who you were."

When Ghost realized what she was talking about they sadly nodded. They looked down to see Grimmchild tremble even more from the cold their body exhumed, not even the warm, hot spring vapors seemed to help. They wanted to convey to him this but they had no voice. Or at least not one the child could hear.

"I had a feeling so allow me to help." The godseeker offered. "Allow me to tune with you so I can be your voice."

They didn't think letting the godseeker connect with their thoughts would be a good idea – they're still trying to figure that out with Quirrel – but they were getting desperate and Quirrel was out of commission for the time being to help.

With no other option, Ghost finally nodded.

"Then allow me to access your mind."

She began to hum, the god tuner on her mask glowing faintly as a piece of her essence immediately entered the shade lord's mind. They were uncomfortable at first, the feeling of unease one would feel when a stranger enters your home and you don't know if they're going to leave you alone or hurt you. But they knew better, their mind was their domain and the godseeker was there to help not heed. He focused on what to say to grimmchild, allowing the essence to encircle that piece of their mind as an invisible thread raced back to connect with the godseeker's mind. As they continued to focus, they suddenly noticed the godseeker was no longer in front of them but next to them, holding out her claw to them.

"Now, hold my claw so I can transfer your inner voice to mine."

They did as she instructed and immediately, they felt the thread that connected them come to life and feel a piece of themselves transfer into the mind of the godseeker, giving them complete control of her. It felt odd but not enough to be disturbing.

They tried to say something. "Grimmchild." Ghost was taken aback by how warped her voice became, but it did not deter them from continuing. The child immediately unfurled his head as he looked up at the godseeker with a horrified form of curiosity. "Look at me."

He let out high pitched mrow, he was looking at her!

"Not her! Me!"

Ghost prodded the child with their snoot to grab Grimmchild's attention. He nearly jumped out of Ghost's claws when they did, the child visibly shaking as his pale face looked at Ghost's.

Ghost was quick to apologize before nudging the child more softly. "I'm sorry, for everything. I didn't mean to leave you there. I didn't even realize I was still wearing your charm when I arrived back here from godhome."

The child was confused. What were they talking about?

"I'm also sorry for scaring you. I'm still trying to figure my body and powers out, I never intended to lash out when I sensed that light or when I attacked the bugs that hurt Quirrel or when I caused all those earthquakes. I'm sorry!"

The shade lord's eyes started to water as they continued to nudge the confused child. But when Ghost spared a glimpse at the godseeker they were horrified to see tears of void also stream down her face. They needed to hurry and finish what they had to say before the godseeker could get consumed by the void again.

"Listen," they said as Ghost awkwardly paced their large forehead on the grimmchild's. "It's me, it's Ghost. Remember when we first met and I helped you eat all your flames?" Realization started to shine in the child's eyes. "Remember when you kept spewing those flames at the mantis's even though I tried to make you stop?" The child's eyes started to water as well, his tears a light, fiery red. "Or how about those times you shot those oomas in the fog canyon and almost killed me when they shot back at me?" Grimmchild looked at the shade lord, his eyes glistening as he mrrowed at them repeatedly, as if asking them if it was really them. Ghost nodded vigorously before letting go of the godseeker's claw to fully embrace the child—their child.

Severing the connection brought the godseeker back to consciousness, coughing as if she hadn't taken a breath of air the entire time Ghost connected to her. The shade lord and grimmchild broke their hug to look up at her with worry. The godseeker continued to cough but she waved them off and started back over to the other two bugs who were clapping as if they were watching a soap opera—Myla herself had tears in her eyes and the shaman showing a genuine smile instead of his usual, hidden smirk.

Figuring that the godseeker would be okay, Ghost and grimmchild went back to their hug. Happy that they officially reunited once again.