Chapter 19

I remained where I was, hugging the tree that I shared with Anti. The bushes kept rustling as the growls grew in volume. Eventually, a slim yet large animalistic figure emerged, coming into the moonlight for me to see. I saw for myself what kind of monster we were dealing with. It appeared like a female lion, in size and muscle. The fur it had was ragged and dirty, definitely unkempt. As it approached me, I saw chunks of it's hair removed, noticeable bald spots all over. The ears were flat on it's side, and there were bite marks on them. Yellow sockets were all I saw in the eyes, no pupils or any trace of other feelings. All it had was hunger, wanting to devour what it hunted. The teeth were sharp, pointed and the tongue was just as long. It growled, stalking close to me as more soon jumped out of the bushes.

Anti was still struggling in the net, but he made no progress in his attempt to escape. "Gah! Damn this net!" He growled as he kept gripping the flaming rope, only to pull back from the burns. I was practically shaking, scared out of my mind as there were now ten of those creatures approaching us. They definitely lived up to their names as HellHounds. I wanted to scream for Dark, I needed him here. He was the only one that could have taken care of those mutts. I looked around, hoping he would appear from the trees like last time. But I didn't see him anywhere, and it made me realize that I could very well be on my own. "Get up higher!" Anti yelled at me. I looked up at him, as he stared down with concern. "Climb the tree up to my branch. They can't climb up trees!"

I looked back at the creatures, as they were about ready to pounce on me, I turned up and gripped the base of the tree, trying to get myself up as high as I could. I was never really one for climbing trees, I'll admit. My brother and Sage were way better than I was. Again, I wasn't the most physically fit person and usually anytime I climbed up, it took a lot out of me just to heave myself onto a branch. Thankfully, there were plenty of branches all mingled together, so finding some footing wasn't so difficult. Though it was a pain just to lift myself up from branch to branch. The HellHounds kept growling, clawing at the tree as they tried to get to me. I didn't want to give up, I needed to get as high as I could if it meant staying away from those mutts.

I got up on the same branch that Anti was being hanged from. The creatures jumped up and tried to bite him, but they were a few inches between him and their jaws. "Fuck, where is he?!" He growled, looking around. I assumed he was referring to Dark, and I didn't blame him. They had us completely surrounded, clawing at the bark as they stood up on their hind legs, growling at us as they tried to get us down with their voices. I wasn't sure what to do, I never dealt with such a wild animal before. Sure, I had some dogs jump on me and even tried to bite me, but that was all playful mannerisms with smaller animals. These creatures were not interested in head pats or tummy rubs, they just wanted to eat. With their height and their numbers, there was no possible way I could take them on all by myself. The only choice I had was to wait for Dark, hoping he was close by.

"Get off, ya mutts!" Anti hissed as he kicked them. He had managed to adjust his position in the net so he was sitting, but that meant that they could get at him easier. He managed to kick them in the face, but it would not be enough for them to stay down. They were clearly determined to eat us, lashing with their teeth. "Where the fuck is that son of a bitch?!" He snarled as he looked around. I held onto the trunk of the tree, it was the only safest place I could think of. I looked back at Anti, wondering how long he could keep up defending himself. I felt bad for him, the more I looked his way. He probably could have taken them all on his own, if he wasn't restricted. At that moment, I felt like I had to release him from his imprisonment. If Dark didn't show up, Anti could have been the next best thing to take down that pack. But if I tried to touch the net again, I would no doubt be burnt.

Anti screamed in pain as one of the hounds finally managed to get him, biting him in the leg. He snarled as he tried to get it off, but its teeth were bared into his skin. Anti could hardly get it off in that net, and it seemed the mutt wasn't close enough to be caught in the fiery rope. I saw how much blood was already pooling from the bite. I couldn't let him get hurt, or eaten for that matter. I had to risk it. "Get away!" I moved over, kicking the dog right in the nose. It was enough for it to let go of the leg and fall back to the ground, whining in pain for a brief moment. The others were still growling, trying to get at us and knowing that they could, it only made them that much more determined. I looked back to see Anti's leg, it was bleeding but there wasn't much he could do about it at the moment. I scooted closer to Anti, trying to get to him as much as I could. At the very least, we could keep each other company until Dark arrived. The dogs below us became more restless, they were not giving up on their free meal.

As I was near Anti's net, I looked behind me to notice that the branch we were both on was starting to become loose. I gasped, seeing that the weight of the two of us was causing it to bend to the point it would snap. I looked over at Anti, and without a second though attempted to get him out of the net. If we were going down, he would stand a better chance if he were free. I went to the rope that held the net together, preparing for myself to get burnt again. The moment I touched the leash however, I was slightly surprised by how it felt. The rope was still hot, but it wasn't a burning sensation like the net lines. It felt closer to the warmth of a lightbulb rather than the burning of a fire. That must have been the weak point of the net I figured. So, I did my best and went to work at untying it. I had to do all I could if it meant that Anti could get and take out that pack. I was nearly done with loosening it until I felt a sharp pain in my leg. I screamed in agony as I looked down, one of the HellHounds pounced up and bit into my leg, just like Anti.

"You asshole!" Anti growled as he tried to kick the dog on my leg. He was missing by a few inches, shaking the branch as he tried to get the creature off of me. I tried kicking it as well but it was hanging on there. I kept hanging onto the branch, doing my best to get it off of me. All of that motion took care of the branch as Anti and I felt gravity take us down to the ground. The HellHounds scattered away from us, but were still pretty close. The fall wasn't that far, but it did hurt. I managed to get up, staying on my legs but winced at the pain. My eyes drifted to my left side, which was now freed from the dog's jaws. I looked below me, seeing that I had landed on the HellHound. It wasn't breathing, and its neck had jerked in the wrong direction. I must have crushed it on impact as we were falling. At least that took care of one of those beasts, and I can actually barge and say that I managed to kill one of them. Maybe not in the most bad ass of ways, but it still counted as an actual kill.

My leg still hurt, as some blood was coming out from the wound. Thankfully I could still move it around, but I had to take care of the mark soon. I looked over at Anti to see how he was doing. The net that was on him was no longer holding him down, he managed to get out but he was struggling to get up. I checked around to see the HellHounds growling at us, ready to pounce once again. There were nine of them that were still strong while it was me and Anti, with the two of us wounded. They snarled, drooling as they readied their hind legs and were prepared to make another attack. I tried backing up as much as I could, only for my back to hit the tree we fell from. One of the HellHounds was savage enough to jump from the pack and rush over to me. I cried out, holding myself as I thought the monster was going to bite at me again. I prepared the best I could for the coming attack, but it wasn't necessary. Before me a wall of fire briefly appeared, separating me and Anti from the HellHound. I blinked, seeing the fire began to die down but kept the creatures at bay. My eyes looked over the trail that the flames came from, and that was where I saw Darkiplier, holding out his palm as some embers flew around his fingers.

At first, I was happy to see him. I thought he would have been able to take care of the other HellHounds. However, as he approached us and I saw him in the moonlight, I noticed his body. His clothes were torn up, being scratched with pieces of fabric missing. With his skin exposed, I noticed bite marks and even claw scars on him. He wasn't that bloody, thank god. But he certainly was hurt, no doubt by those animals. I wanted to try and get to him, help him out if I could. I found the strength to at least stand on my legs. Despite the bite mark, I was able to at least hold myself. About two of the Hellhounds ran towards Dark, opening their jaws as they tried to make him their next meal. Dark however was quicker, and threw a wave of his fire towards them. The blast caused them to be set on fire, making them whine and howl in pain as they rolled on the ground to put themselves out.

It was up to the rest of us to take care of the mutts and chase them off. I saw one coming my way, figuring I was probably an easy target. I wasn't going to go down easily though, but I had to think fast. I noticed the branch that we fell from, lying right next to me. My hands reached over to it and picked up what I could. It was pretty heavy, but that only meant it would do the trick. When the HellHound was pretty close to me, I used the branch to swing at it, sending it flying as the twigs cut up the muzzle. It seemed to have been enough to let it stay away from me.

Anti was holding his own as well. One of the hounds leapt his way, but he managed to kick it in the face, leaping onto it and pinning it to the ground. The HellHound tried to nip at Anti in defense, but Anti was much stronger than such a mutt. He snarled, using his clawed hands to slash at the chest and stomach of the hound. It howled in pain as it's insides started spilling out. Anti kicked the body, showing it off to the remaining pack. Two of the HellHounds were burnt alive, one got cut open, another broke its neck and one had a badly scratched up face. The remaining HellHounds looked at the scene before them, backing up slowly as they whined and growled. It seemed they realized that with their numbers decreasing, they wouldn't be able to take us down anytime soon. The remaining six ran over to the bushes, disappearing and leaving the three of us alone. I began to pant, feeling the adrenaline leaving my body. I didn't know how, but I was able to evade death once again. Though I did have to give credit to Dark and Anti, there was no way I could have taken on that pack by myself.

Dark started to come closer to us, wincing a bit as he walked. Anti also stood up, glaring in Dark's direction. "Finally, could you have shown up any later?"

Darkiplier responded with a growl as he looked at the glitching man. "Don't give me that, you wannabe demon!"

"You're the one that fucking left her!" Anti shouted. "She could have gotten killed."

"I came back as soon as I could, but was jumped by a few of those HellHounds!" Dark explained. The two of them glared down at one another, their hatred strong.

Anti was about to say something else as he took a step towards Dark. However, I heard his leg give out a snap, and he began to pant as he fell onto his knees. "Gagh! Fuck-Fucker broke my leg." Anti hissed. Dark was about to step towards Anti, only to wince in pain before he fell to his knees, landing face first on the ground. Anti saw it before his eyes and huffed. "Just great…" They were both tired and wounded, clearly the fight with those monsters gave them more injury than what they were worth.

I hurried over to where they were, but it was slow as my leg lagged behind me. I was still in slight pain from the bite one of those HellHound gave to me, but I had to put up with it as much as I could. I ran over to Anti first, since he was still conscious and checked him over. He looked over at me, seeing me coming his way. I looked over at his leg, seeing it bleeding from the wound and possibly broken. "Is it broken or sprained?" I asked, looking it over.

"Stupid mutt broke my left leg…" he gripped his injury as he growled. "It hurts like a bitch."

"If you can still feel the pain, then that should be good." I tried to assure him. I turned back over at Dark to see that he was still knocked out. Hopefully he would be alright for now, but all three of us needed medical attention. Though that would be hard when we ourselves had no such supplies and any form of civilization. At the moment, we were on our own. I looked back at Anti's bite mark, it was pretty big and bleeding in some areas still. I just hoped that it wasn't infected. "If I had some peroxide, a needle and threat and some bandages I could try and patch it up." I sighed, knowing full well I didn't have any of that.

"What about you?" I looked at Anti as he raised a brow my way. "You also got bit? And that fucker over there is in far worse condition than I am." He then pointed at Dark's body.

"Maybe so, but it isn't like there's anything we can do. We're too far away to find any medical help and there's no way we can walk in these conditions." I gave a sigh of defeat. I looked at his leg again, seeing that at the very least, I could try and stop the bleeding if not slow it down. I needed some sort of bandage of at least a cloth. I could have used some of his clothes, but he barely had any on him. Dark's were too tattered to really make any difference so that only left… I bit my lip, knowing what I had to do but I wasn't a huge fan. At the very least it could help. "Hang on…" I took off my shirt first, beginning to rip it to shreds.

Anti instantly blushed, trying to back away from me but his injury wouldn't allow him. "W-what are-" He trailed off, clearly seeing my upper half only with a bra on.

"Calm down," I told him in a nonchalant tone. This wasn't my first time that I had to use my clothes to wrap around an injured person. It wasn't ideal, but it was all I could think of. Once I tore my shirt as much as I could, I used the wraps to hold onto Anti's leg, covering where the bite mark was. Not the best wrapping job, but hopefully it should be enough until we could find better supplies. "There, that should at least slow down the bleeding."

Anti looked back up at me, his blush clear on his face. His eyes scanned down to where the shirt was wrapped around his leg. "W-why did you… you didn't have…" he trailed off, not sure what to say to me at this point. I sighed as I sat next to him, but kept a bit of distance to not make him uncomfortable.

"You did help out with the HellHounds. I don't think we would have made it without your help."

He shifted slightly, keeping his gaze anywhere but towards me. "You… he would have been fine." He mentioned Dark.

"True, but you also got hurt as a result of those creatures. I know it isn't much, but if you were willing to take care of a few of them for us… then again, you probably did it for your own survival." I laughed slightly. I looked down at the ground, then over at my own leg with its own wound. "I don't know what I'll do about Dark, but I can at least help you and myself…" I winced, looking at my shorts and wondered if they would even be enough for such a large opening. Plus I wasn't sure how comfortable I was exposing my underwear at Anti. A bra was okay but at that point I would be half naked. I didn't seem to have any other choice though, as embarrassing as it may be.

I reached up to my belt line, ready to take off the shorts for my wound. Before I could, a hand stopped me. I looked up to see Anti, still blushing with his eyes off of me, but he spoke. "W-wait… let me help." He let my hand rest at my side as I watched him. He grunted as he rubbed the back of his neck, forcing himself to stand up and lifting his own hand. I watched as a small green ball appeared within his palm. The orb soon morphed and formed a tail at one end with a blue pupil on the other. I gasped, seeing the green eyeball coming to life. I knew it all too well. "A Septiceye…" I looked back up at Anti, my eyes still bewildered. "I didn't know you could summon them of your own will."

He gave me a small smirk. "It takes a bit of energy to muster, but they are great helpers with spying on others. But, they have more to them." He set the green eyeball down on the ground, in the direction where Dark was. The sentient body part wiggled its way over to Dark, with its chirping noises. Once it approached the other demon, the eyeball began to glow a bright green, radiating a light around itself. Soon, Dark's body began to glow with such an aurora. The glowing appeared for a moment, then disappeared only to reappear around the two again after a moment. I watched this process, and noticed that the blood on Dark's body began to disintegrate. His wounds were closing up as well, slowly but it was getting the job done. I was impressed that an eyeball could hold such power. Hopefully Dark would be alright after that healing spell that Septiceye was giving him. I jumped a bit when I felt something slimy on my leg where the wound was. I looked down and almost freaked out when I saw another Septiceye slithering down my leg, chirping happily as it started to admit the same glow around itself and around the bite mark. I could feel the platelets in me closing up my wound, the blood cells forming together to produce new tissue. The little punctured holes got smaller as the blood dried up and was wiped clean from my skin all together.

When the wound was finally gone, I watched as the Septiceye pulled away from me and headed over to where Dark was. It joined its friend and the two of them worked together to help heal his wounds. I moved my once injured leg around, amazed with how much better it felt. I wasn't sure what it was those eyeballs used to heal me, but the end results were the best so I didn't care. I looked back over at Anti, he was just watching the two Septiceye healing Dark. He didn't say anything, he just watched. I noticed the shirt around his leg was still there, some blood bleeding through. "Aren't you going to use the Septiceyes to heal your own leg?" I asked him.

He just kept staring at Dark, not even trying to look my way. He just watched as the eyeballs were fixing up the red demon. "I wanted to use my energy to heal you and him. Save the rest for when we have to get out of here…" I was kind of surprised by his answer. He probably had more than enough power to heal himself and escape us if he really wanted to, and yet here he was, watching his own minions take care of me and Dark. This feral demon that possessed someone's body and attacked us seems to have been tamed. He was helping us out of his own free will. I couldn't believe that this beast was the same guy that put me through hell and back and stalked me and Dark in the woods only a few hours ago. "You know…" he began a new sentence. "I don't get why you helped me…" He sounded genuinely confused, not that I blamed him. I guess in a way, I would be curious as well if the roles were reversed.

I shifted my position and smiled. "Like I said, you could have tried to run away when the HellHounds were attacking us, but you stayed and fought. Maybe it was the talk we had before those things came to us, but… I guess I feel kind of bad for you. I still don't forgive you for everything you did to me… but I guess I can kind of get how desperate you were…" I rubbed the back of my neck. It probably wasn't the best answer I could give but it was the only one I could have come up with at that moment. "Thanks… for helping me and Dark. I know that he can take care of himself and would have been able to heal on his own… but we would have been here till daybreak if it wasn't for your Septiceyes." I turned back, seeing that Dark no longer had any wounds or blood on his body. Once he was all healed up, the Septiceyes closed themselves up and shriveled up to dust. It was slightly unsettling to see, but it seemed they served their purpose and there wasn't much they could do.

I stood up and walked over to Dark, looking him over and grabbing his wrists. I checked the radial pulse, hoping that it wasn't slow. Thankfully, it was maintaining a good rhythm. "He should be alright now," I assured Anti, who had walked up behind me. "Looks like he's still knocked out though…"

Anti scoffed. "Must have taken a lot of his energy just to fight off those dogs."

I sighed nervously. "Guess that means we can't rely on him to bring us back home right away." I looked above us, seeing the red moon shining down on us. It hardly moved at all even after everything that had happened. "I'm not sure how long he will be out for though, but I don't want to risk waking him up in such a state. It's better to let him rest and recover his strength."

"You'll let him rest even though you want to go home now?" Anti raised a brow.

I looked back over at him and spoke. "I won't be able to wake him up, he's a heavy sleeper."

"Figures…" He shook his head, looking over at the woods. My eyes were still on him, wondering what he was going to do next. He looked back over at me, with his ears dropping down. "Do you… see me and Dark as bad guys?"

I was caught off guard by his question, but it seemed that he wanted to bring it up due to what I told him. I took a step closer to him, thinking about my answer. "Honestly, I don't even know what the hell you two are at this point. Egos. Demons. Some sort of strange virus or split personality gone rouge. But… I guess you two aren't… all bad if that makes any sense." His ears raised up, looking over at me. He wanted me to explain more, so I had no choice but to do so. "Dark could have stayed away and waited at home for me to come back. But he traveled all the way across the countries just to find me to help bring me to my house. He even agreed with my decision to spare you and to bring you with us. And even when you had the chance to run away and leave us for those HellHounds, you stayed and fought with us. You even used your powers to heal us before yourself. Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure a real bad guy wouldn't have done those things."

Anti looked down at his clawed hands, before turning his focus on me. He let out a sad chuckle. "But we still did bad things, right?"

I gave a shrug. "I won't lie, you two are far from being saints. But, you aren't complete sinners either, just complex. Everyone is like that now and again." I walked closer to him, reached out my hand and laid it on top of Anti's. We looked into each other's eyes, though he was more confused as I tried my best to assure him. I didn't give him any smiles though, however, my words were enough of comfort. "You don't have any actual place to stay, do you?" I flat out asked him. He froze at that question and turned away, trying to avoid eye contact now. I titled my head, waiting for a verbal answer. But his actions were clear as day. "I meant it when I said you could live with me and Dark. It may be a bit cramped, but there should be enough room for the three of us. You can have a roof over your head, have warm meals, a nice bed to sleep in. And we even have a big backyard for you to run around in. There are tall trees and bushes that act as a fence between the neighbors yards, so it should give you some privacy."

Anti looked back over at me, his ears twitching as I mentioned the pros of my house. But his face seemed unconvinced. "You want me to live under the same roof with Darkiplier? I don't know if you've noticed, but the two of us aren't that close."

"Trust me, I've seen that for myself." I assured him. "But, he will have to put up with it. He's a guest at my house as you will be. It's my house, so what I say goes. And if I want you to stay with me, you can. I'm not asking for your trust or friendship… you can live at my place. At least until you can separate from Sean. Okay?"

Once again, his ears went down, and his gaze fell to the ground. He seemed unsure still but his hands clenched mine, showing me he was considering it. "You… said that there is food?"

I gave a curt nod. "Yeah, real food. I tend to go grocery shopping once a week. There will be plenty of snacks too." I tried to persuade him with the power of food. It seemed to have been enough for him to turn back to me and gave me a smile.

"Alright, I'll stay. But only for the food." He tried to defend himself. I rolled my eyes at the comment, but it was official nonetheless. I tried to hold back a snicker, but it escaped me.

"In that case, we better keep going. There's still a lot of ground to cover and it's not like we can use Dark to help us." I turned around and headed towards the red demon. Grabbing him and trying to pick him up, only to remember how heavy he was when he was unconscious. "Geez, I forgot how heavy he is…" I grunted, trying to pick him up but he only fell back to the ground. "I forgot, I had my bike to help me last time…"

"You didn't have a problem with lifting him up before, but you do now?" Anti questioned me.

"Hey, I had a lot more energy back then. I've been running and even fighting for my life since entering this forest." I tried to defend myself. "Even so, I don't know how we'll be able to carry him through the forest. It will be a long way yet until we can reach a town or city. And even if we do, we'll need to find a way to get out of Ireland and head back to Minnesota." I noted as I tried to think what our best approach was. We had been walking for a very long time already and all I ever saw were ruined campsites. At such a rate, I wasn't sure where any towns or other buildings were located. Plus, how would we even get back to my home state? I had no actual identification or passport, so getting a boat or a plane would be out of the question. And I would want to try and find a way to get back without notifying my sisters or brother, they will just be furious and beyond worried.

Anti walked up to where Dark and I were. He looked down at me and I was curious what he was going to say. "There… is another way we can go."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He put on a small smile, trying to be genuine. "Dark isn't the only one with powers of teleportation." He held out his right hand, letting his fingers spread out and his skin being enveloped in the same green glow that the Septiceyes gave off. His green sclera was glowing as well, and in a few moments, a small orb of the same color appeared before us. Growing bigger by the second until a huge green spiral wormhole was in our way. I was pretty impressed, so much my eyes went wide. "Whhhhat?! I didn't know you could do that!" I pointed at it as I was still mesmerized.

"It takes a bit of energy, but not too much." Anti explained. So that must be why he didn't use his own energy to heal himself with the rest of us. He wanted to save it for a portal. "This should bring us back to your home. I may have only seen it once, but that's enough for me to memorize it." I wonder if he had to use a lot of energy just to transport us to such a large distance. "Come on, let's take this old suit through. Hold on tight." Anti advised as he picked up one of Dark's sides while I grabbed the other. "Let's get outta here." Anti proceed.

"I couldn't agree with you more." I nodded. The two of us heaved Dark and dragged him to the portal. We both stepped through at the same time, together. It was only one giant leap but when we walked out, I found myself back inside my living room. I checked around my surroundings, making sure every detail was there so I knew it wasn't an illusion. It was kind of dark still, so I had to search for a light to flip on. Everything seemed to have been my old house, the living room and kitchen were connected, the small hallway that had my room, the bathroom and what was once my parents room. Even the smell of Oliver in my room, as I peaked in to see him sleeping on my bed. My face lit up, knowing I truly was home. I had never felt so glad to be back in my own house.

It took a bit of time to set things up though. Before I could even try to relax, I had to get Dark and Anti settled in. First, he and I helped Dark into the bedroom across from me, laying him on the mattress. We agreed to let him sleep for the time being, guessing he would be able to wake up tomorrow morning. The two of us walked out of the room as I quietly shut the door. "He should be fine now, thanks to you. I think if we give him some time to rest, he should wake up tomorrow."

Anti nodded, pleased with that answer. "What about you?

"Well, aside from the fact that I'm going to be steering clear of camping and hiking for a good while, and may develop a fear of large dogs, I say I'm doing pretty well all things considered." I shrugged with a hint of sarcasm. "At least I'm not hurt anywhere else. I just need some rest, I think we could all use it."

"That makes two of us," Anti agreed, looking down at his leg that was still wrapped up in my shirt. "I think the wound finally stopped bleeding… thanks, again for that." He blushed, trying to keep his gaze away from my half naked upper body.

"Do you have any energy left to make a Septiceye to heal yourself?" I asked him. He tried to test it, holding out his palm and focusing to try and make another green eyeball. He grunted a bit, trying to form a glowing orb, but it was in semi-shape before it disappeared. He panted, holding his legs and sighed. He must have used up a lot of energy from healing us, the portal and even the fight with those HellHounds. I wasn't sure how long it would take him to recover just enough for his leg, but I didn't want him to have to be left with a makeshift wrap. I looked across the hall to the bathroom and got an idea. "Go sit down on the couch in the living room and wait for me, I'll be right there." I told him before heading into the bathroom. I rummaged through the closet searching for the materials I would need. Now that I had supplies, it should be enough to help out with his wound. I gathered what I needed and stepped out, heading into the living room where Anti was waiting for me on the couch.

"What are you doing?" He asked me, curious as he looked at the materials in my arms.

"Now that I have some actual medical equipment, this should do better properties on your leg. I got some cotton balls, some actual bandages and…" I looked over the bottle of peroxide, checking the label and practically snickered as I saw the text.

"What's so funny?" Anti raised a brow as he saw how much I was trying not to lose my voice. I ended up showing him the label, making him see that it was an antiseptic medicine. When he read it, he too joined in on our laughter. It was so strange, the two of us laughing over a pun when not that long ago he was chasing and hunting me down. Then again, this wasn't a bad turn. It was far better than how Dark and I reached a mutual agreement.

After a few deep breaths to regain our breathing, I began to work on his wound. I took off the remains of my shirt and dabbed some of the peroxide on a few cotton balls. "This may sting a bit, but it's to ensure the wound doesn't get infected." I then dabbed them lightly on the open wounds. Anti responded by grunting slightly and biting his lips. "Sorry, I know it hurts but this pain could be worse…"

"Tell me about it," Anti winced. Once the medicine was on his wound, I reached over and grabbed the new bandages. I wrapped the wounded leg up with the clean ones and smiled. Normally, I would have tried to sew the wound with some thread, like I did with Dark a while back. However, I didn't want to do it to a conscious patient. Plus, I figured it would be a bit of a waste since Anti would just use his powers to heal the wound once he got his energy back. It was just a temporary fix until he could heal it himself. Once the leg was all cleaned up, I stepped back. It was much better looking now. "Thanks… I'm surprised you had all of this stuff."

"My dad was an EMT, so he had a bunch of supplies like these. He taught me a few skills in case of emergencies. Does it feel better?"

"Much," Anti nodded.

"I would have sown it, but I didn't think it would be necessary since you would end up healing it yourself once you can. But at least it won't get infected or bleed through." I told him. "Do you need any pain pills? We have a few of those in case it acts up."

Anti shook his head and waved his hands. "No, really, I'm fine. You did more than enough for me." He sat his hands on his legs and sighed, looking at the ground with his ears falling flat. Was he still upset about the forest? I guess it would be a bit awkward when I invited him home after he was trying to chase me and kill Dark. But I couldn't just leave him there either. He was still possessing Sean, and if he got in trouble then so would Sean. And even if Dark didn't kill him right then and there, then someone or something else could have. In a way, I felt I had to look after him. I already had Dark, and when you have one you may as well get them all. I sat next to him on the couch, wanting to try and change the subject to get his mind occupied. "When you rest, it's best you elevate that leg with a pillow." I tried to advise him. "How long do you think it will be until you have enough energy to heal yourself?"

Anti looked back at me, at least he seemed interested in the conversation. "A couple of hours, once I get some rest. I would ask for a meal but I think I'll wait on that until morning."

"Yeah, I'm not really in the mood for a midnight-" I trailed off, looking over at the clock to see that it was 2:17 in the morning. "Or… a two in the morning snack…" I sighed. I guess it was pretty late out while we were in Ireland. Then again, I wonder if it was much later or much earlier over there than here, what with the time difference and all. My eyes went back to looking over Anti's earrings that he was wearing. He must have noticed it as he raised a brow my way. "Oh… sorry, I didn't mean to stare… I was just looking at your earrings…"

"Earrings?" He questioned. "Oh! Right," he rubbed his earlobe to feel the pieces of jewelry. A look of curiosity sketched itself onto his face as he looked back at me. "Did he ever tell you about these?"

I shrugged. "Just bits and pieces, I pretty much figured out the rest myself. I know you have those earrings and he has that ring. And I'm assuming you and Dark originated from those gemstones in them." He listened closely as I kept my explanation. "I learned from Sean himself that he and Mark as well as a bunch of other YouTubers got those jewelry from a convention. Though I don't really know who made them, I know that there is some connection. Once they put those pieces of fashion-wear on, you and Dark took over their bodies. And now, your powers come from those gems."

His eyes went wide while his ears sprung up. I guess he was surprised with my statement, which meant I must have been spot on. "I'm impressed you found all of that out on your own."

"Well, Sean did help me put the pieces together… Does that mean you and Dark really did come from those gemstones?" I asked.

He looked over to the hallway, where Dark was sleeping in the room. He took a deep breath, eyes wandering to the ceiling. "To be honest… I don't really know." He admitted. "I mean… I have all the memories of Anti and even Jack, but… as for how I got in the earrings I couldn't tell you." His face was lost, he really wasn't lying. He didn't know his true origins? Was he really even Anti?

"So, you have amnesia?"

"Not exactly, I mean, I don't know every detail but I do have these… instances where I feel like I should know something."

"Like the Crown?" I asked him. He turned back to me, surprised written on his face again. "Dark told me you were fighting him at the manor because you wanted to claim this Crown that you believed he had. Is that true?"

He bit his lip, but nodded. "I don't know what it really is, but whenever I hear the name I feel like I should know it. Like… there's this sense of familiarity surrounding it and… I have this strong urge to get it for myself."

"But… you yourself don't know what it is?" I pointed out. He gave a huff of annoyance.

"That's why I was fighting him at the manor. Dark stated that he knew about this Crown, but claimed he didn't have it. I didn't believe him, this was a liar we're talking about. I just thought that if I could have gotten that Crown, maybe I could have figured out what happened. But, it's hard to look for something when you don't even know what you are searching for." He shrugged.

He did have a good point there. I looked up at the ceiling and thought about it myself. "I don't know what this Crown is or what it looks like. All I know is, it must be really important if you were willing to fight for it and do what you could to get it. I wouldn't be surprised if there were others like you and Dark out there that are looking for the same thing. Whether it's an actual object or just some sort of title, I can't help you there. However, maybe for now just don't worry about it too much. I mean, you're here now so why go after something you don't know about? Maybe, just reflect on you before you make any other life changing decisions." It was the best advice I could give to him. I didn't want him fighting with Dark anymore and I didn't want him running around trying to find something that he knows nothing about. It was best that we just focus on a new schedule to try and work around now that I had two new roommates.

"You aren't… going to tell Dark any of this, are you?" He asked, sounding a bit worried.

I gave a small smile. "Hey, if he keeps secrets from me, it's only fair I keep some from him." We both snickered at that answer.

"Thanks… Cosmo, right?"

I nodded. "I go by Cosmo on the internet, but my real name is Kate."

"I didn't know which one you prefer…" he admitted.

"Call me whatever you want, doesn't matter to me." I told him. I stood up from the couch, yawning and stretching my arms out. "I think we better get some rest while we can. Come on, I'll show you where you can sleep for the night." I lead him down the stairs into the den of the house. Taking him to the left, I led him to the only room of that side of the hallway. When I opened the door, I showed him a large bedroom. "This is usually where my brother sleeps, but for tonight you can have it. If you need anything, my room is just across from where Dark is sleeping."

Anti walked in, looking around before jumping onto the bed and cuddling into the blankets and pillows. I watched him snuggle into the covers, and I could have sworn I heard him purring. "Thanks Cosmo…" Anti said with a muffled moan.

I watched him for a bit, waiting for his eyes to close and his chest to rise and fall normally. I stood in the doorway for a few minutes, wanting to make sure he would be alright. When he seemed peacefully asleep, I slowly and quietly closed the door and headed back up the stairs to my room. Closing my own door behind me and turning on my light, I had awoken Oliver. He jumped from my bed and pounced on my leg, wagging his tail. I bent down to pick him up, stroking his shiny black fur. I really missed him, and apologized to him for leaving so suddenly. I sat at the edge of my bed for a while, just stroking Oliver's back to take that moment of calmness. I must have been gone for a full day, based on the time zone. It wasn't this late when I left and I knew it was daylight out in Ireland. I reached over to my bed stand and looked through my phone. I was relieved to have seen no messages from either my sisters or brother. At least they weren't trying to reach me and believed I was missing. Though I would have to come up with some sort of excuse for me to have not been picking up. I came up with the concept that I was having internet trouble over at the house and had to take care of it. Surely they would have believed that, and technically that is what happened in a way.

I checked the time on my phone as it was thirty minutes past two in the morning. I groaned, rubbing the bridge of my nose. So much has happened and for just a few hours, I wanted to sleep and not worry about waking up in a new location. I knew it was going to be hell tomorrow when Dark and Anti would wake up, but I was going to worry about that when morning broke. I shed off the remainder of my clothes and put on some new pajamas. Once I was all set, I wasted no time in jumping on my bed, covering myself with the duvet. Oliver hopped up and cuddled next to me, yawning. I was sure he wouldn't sleep too much but if it was by me he would be in bliss. I shut off the light in my room, laying on my pillow and laid there for a good while. I'll admit, it took a while for sleep to consume me. My mind was still racing with everything that had happened. Eventually, my brain realized it had to shut down and my eyes drifted my being to rest.