A/N: Heyyyyyyyy everybody. Good to see ya'll after basically half a year ;w; Aaaaaas always: story ain't dead. Life is shit. Motivation hates me. I'm tireddddd and teenage me's writing wasn't the best and I hate editing it. But yeah, it's here! victory toot

So some things first; for anyone that doesn't know, I have a twitter for art/fic stuff. You can find me on twitter by searching for user MYaksup. From now on, any fic updates will go there because I hate making A/Ns chapters and then deleting them, plus it seemed to mess up some comments for you guys which is unacceptable. So you can go follow me on there and you'll be able to see any updates on how I'm doing with a fic.

Another thing; this fic is also on AO3 (archiveofourown) where you can find me by my same username. I also have an Undertale fic there (18+ only) and invite all of you to follow me there if you're over eighteen and want to read smut of stuff, because I won't be putting any smut on this account. That content is technically not allowed by the webpage and I'm not risking anything folks, most of my smut is pretty dark, so not chancing a witch hunt or anything of the sort.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter! As always, warnings at the end notes.

"Pst, sis. Stop cuddling and get up, we're here."

Rose woke up with a start, head jumping off Yakko's shoulder so fast that she accidentally knocked her head against his, making both of them yelp and recoil from one another. This, of course, resulted in the snickers of their respective family members as both Yakko and Rose sullenly rubbed their hurt heads. Thankfully though, they stopped laughing for long enough to help them off their seats, and then they all left the train.

Everyone seemed fairly animated as they walked back to HQ, but Rose noticed how both she, Yakko and… curiously Elias? Were all quiet, looking at their surroundings suspiciously. She got why Yakko was, it was for the same reason as her; she wasn't taking what he said in the train lightly, was keeping her eyes extra peeled. But why Elias? He didn't know anything. She was certain Yakko wouldn't have told him, considering the sheer animosity between them. So what was he so worried about? Athena? But she'd always been dangerous and Elias had never seemed that bothered before… Something didn't sit right with her about that.

It didn't take them long to reach HQ, and although Rose had been heavily eyeing a few shadows that she'd seen around town, they made it home without further incident. Marilyn and StarDust were practically immediately on Wakko and Dot, wanting to see what their clothes were, just making conversation. Yakko seemed less than enthused about clothes and proclaimed he was still feeling kind of dizzy, thus excusing himself to their room. Aside from Elias though, everyone else slipped into Marilyn's and Wakko's room to play dressup, Dot enthusiastically dragging a very chagrinned-looking Wakko by the wrist. The prince walked off into the kitchen, proclaiming that he would make himself some tea, and then Rose was alone.

She stared at the table in the living room, considering the pros and cons of interrogating Elias at this point in time. On the one hand he could see it as an opportunity to not have to deal with whatever the problem was on his own, but on the other… it could only make him clam up. As she saw him coming through the kitchen door though, she resolved to at least try. Thus, she sat down, making Elias pause as he was putting his cup down.

"… Do you need something?" he asks, looking wary. It didn't help that he had a folder under his arm as well as the cup of tea in his hand, the folder very protectively held against him "I was just about to start doing… prince stuff."

"'Prince stuff'. Sure" she sent him a completely unimpressed look, getting herself comfortable on the chair to show she wasn't going anywhere "I'm sure I can help with whatever that 'prince stuff' is if you just tell me about it. Got nothing better to do anyway."

Elias deflated at that, knowing he'd been caught being shady and that he now had to explain himself. He plopped down on the chair with a sigh, letting the folder drop and slide onto the table with defeated energy.

"Fine, it's not prince stuff. It's more an… investigation of sorts. It's in its very early stages though, so I don't see why you think it'll be particularly interesting" he said so sullenly, frowning down at the folder as if it had personally offended him "And before you ask why I was being 'shady' about it then, well I wasn't. I'm reading it in front of everybody after all, just… didn't expect to get bothered about it so soon."

"Well sorry to bother you" she raised a brow, eyes quickly going down to stare at the folder "So. You gonna tell me what that's about?"

Luckily, Elias didn't waste any more time; he opened the folder with the air of someone seriously done with whatever he was dealing with and turned it so it was right-side-up for Rose, crossing his arms and huffing afterwards. Rose found his attitude amusing, but was far more interested in what this contained.

"It's just boring birth records" he groaned with irritation as Rose started looking through the papers, seeing that they were, in fact, just birth records. The Warner family's birth records, to be more precise. Odd choice of reading material "I was hoping they'd point me in the right direction, but all I learned is that my family has some serious case of bad luck with children."

"'Bad luck with children'?" she said, bewildered by the choice of words and just at the mere fact that the Warner family had actually kept these. Who even did that anymore? "What's that supposed to mean?"

"See for yourself" Elias gestured with a hand to basically the entirety of the first sheet of paper. He mostly looked annoyed, but he also looked a little disturbed. Certainly didn't bode well for what she was about to read "Just look at each generation and tell me you don't see a pattern."

Rose narrowed her eyes and frowned in confusion, but did as Elias suggested. It seemed that what these records showed were only births, mentioning the parent's names as well for context sake. She eyed the first family recorded, mother, father, son, and-

She paused. Beside the first child's name, as if recording his siblings' name, only read 'stillborn.'

Yikes.

"That's… unsettling. They don't even have names…" she said, holding the paper a little tighter. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for the parents of that poor kid…

"After a while it was decided that names would be given after they were born and the doctors said they were healthy" Elias shrugged, looking to the side with discomfort "Giving them a name knowing they might not make it… makes it harder."

"… Why are you even looking at this in the first place? What are you trying to-"

"Keep reading."

She looked up at him, bewildered, but he just looked somber. After a few seconds of just staring at him, he gestured back to the paper, and she reluctantly looked back down. The more she read, the more disturbed she became.

'Bad luck with children'? Understatement of the fucking century! It seemed like literally every generation had one stillborn kid. Never two, never zero, one. One for each generation. For decades.

"… What the fuck?" she whispered, looking at the pages as if she'd understand if she just kept staring "That's just ridiculous. It's almost like some kinda…"

"Curse?" Elias finished for her, frowning down at the table "That's what the family calls it."

"Holy fuck" she looked at him, eyes wide and disturbed "Why didn't you tell us about this?"

"Not exactly something you tell your friends over tea, Rose" he said it with an air of melancholy, absentmindedly tapping his index finger on the table. His eyes were stuck on the wood, hooded and tired "It's sad, but it's just how things go in our family, apparently. Plus, I didn't really believe any of that curse stuff when I was a kid, but looking at this…" he motioned to the papers Rose still had in her hands "I can't really deny that it's weird."

It wasn't just weird, it was downright wrong. Nature had patterns, sure, but this was too much to be real. Something here wasn't right, and Rose only felt a sense of foreboding that got bigger and bigger with each second that passed.

She had plenty of puzzle pieces to make some kind of deduction as to what was happening. She didn't like the image it painted, but if she could just figure out the who, how and why, she'd have a clear picture… But she couldn't do anything with the pieces she had at the time. She had some strong theories, but she couldn't just go pointing fingers without evidence and expect to be listened to. No… she needed to learn just a little bit more.

"Okay now that I've… seen that. Why exactly were you looking at this?" she asked Elias, handing the folder back to him "I don't see you as the type that tries to learn about family history."

"I've learnt my fair share, as a prince" he huffed a little, but deflated quickly as he took the folder from her and closed it. Man, he must have been pretty upset over it "But uh… no, that's not the reason why I was looking at this. Let's just say that now that I'm not blinded by jealousy, I'm kind of… noticing some stuff. Connecting dots."

Rose didn't even need to prompt him to say what he meant, she just had to raise a brow at him and Elias folded like a house of cards. She guessed he never did grow a spine in all the years she'd known him. Dangerous quality for a king to have, but she guessed he still had time.

"Okay fine, it's obvious that while Wakko and Dot are my siblings, Yakko's part of the family too" he huffed, frowning deeply like he'd lost some kind of bet and was being a sore loser "We're practically identical, he can't not be a Warner. What I'm trying to figure out is where the heck he fits into this."

He waved the folder at her, still frowning, but this time it was with confusion "But his name is nowhere on this list. I looked through everything, each single branch of the family, and nothing. My only guess is that 'Yakko' isn't his actual name, but then why would he be using any name but his own?"

"He did lose his memory, and I think he did say remembering his own name was a struggle…" she mumbled, nervous. It just felt like she'd been handed another puzzle piece and she really didn't like where it fit. She would try to cram it in another hole even if it didn't fit because fuck, she didn't like what all this pointed to "It's not too farfetched to think that he didn't remember it correctly. It's also not the best theory, but…"

"Yeah, I'm stumped too" Elias sighed, melting against his chair in defeat "Well, there you have it. My big research effort, completely worthless. This thing doesn't even have pictures, which only makes it worse."

She didn't know what to say. She was too busy trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle in any way, any different way, and being unable to come up with a picture that made sense. So that meant that what she was thinking of was what made most sense… She didn't know how to deal with that information.

"So, while we're here, talking about Yakko…" Elias started after they'd been silent for a while, horribly segueing into the next topic. He shuffled a little uncomfortably in his seat, seeming unsure about how to bring this up "Something's been kind of bothering me for a few days. About what happened when I took you and your sisters to see my father."

She forced herself to tune back into the conversation, eyeing Elias with a risen brow "About Yakko? … You mean the fact that I pointedly didn't mention anything about him to William."

"Yes. Why?" he frowned at her, confused "I know that the way father asked about a third person was rather… odd, and I still don't quite know what he was going on about- but that doesn't mean that you needed to hide Yakko's existence from him."

That was precisely why she had had to do that. Elias may have trusted his father with absolutely everything, to not doubt a single bone in the man's body, but Rose was not nearly as devoted. William knowing about Yakko wouldn't benefit anybody, and could have disastrous consequences if the man wasn't to be trusted. She still didn't know where the piece William represented fit into the picture, but there were some possibilities she didn't like the thought of. She was just being cautious.

"He didn't need to know about Yakko. He doesn't need to know about him" she countered, threading the fingers of her hands together. She looked at him seriously "This is really sensitive information, so I hope you appreciate the amount of trust I'm putting in you when I say this; letting word run that Yakko even exists is dangerous."

Elias looked surprised for a moment, but then, abruptly, he let out a shocked laugh.

At first, Rose frowned at him, offended that he would just laugh in her face like that, but Elias quickly put his hands up as if telling her to wait.

"Sorry, I'm sorry- I was just surprised" he tried to hide the confused chuckle behind his hand, but it didn't stop her from still frowning at him "I thought you were going to give me some real top secret info when you said it like that, not something that's kind of obvious."

"… Obvious?" her eyebrows raised, she blinked quickly at the prince, surprised and confused "Obvious how?"

"Rose. Please" he gave her an uncomfortable look "We have no idea where he came from, we can't find him on any records, and if you spend a few days around him you can tell he's gone through something traumatic that even he doesn't fully remember. How would people knowing he exists not be dangerous?"

She… guessed he had a point. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Yakko was clearly involved in something bigger than them, something dangerous. To think that they had no idea what to do aside from hiding him and keeping him safe… She didn't like feeling so defenseless.

"And back to my point; I know people knowing he exists is dangerous, but my father is trustworthy" Elias said so with complete conviction, frowning at Rose "That you neglected to tell him means you don't trust him. Why."

"… I don't know him like you do" she said simply, crossing her arms "William may be my king, but he's not my friend. Yakko's my top priority, I'm not even going to risk William or anybody else knowing about him unless we stand to gain something from them having that knowledge. As far as anybody is concerned, Yakko doesn't exist."

"What if father knows something that could help us? Maybe that whole weird talk about a third person was him trying to see how much we knew. Maybe he was trying to ask us about Yakko in code or something-"

"Elias. I know he's your dad, but you can't expect me to trust him like that" she sighed "There was a fifty-fifty chance that he had good intentions, but I wasn't about to risk it with those odds. Not Yakko's safety."

The prince sighed deeply, exhausted. He even gave her an annoyed glare, hands coming down to grab his cup of tea "You always were thick-headed. I guess I can't fault you for thinking like that, even if I don't agree with it" he brought the cup to his lips, but when he took a sip, he paused and his face scrunched up in disgust "Eugh. My tea got cold."

Suddenly, he stood up, making a loud scraping noise as he pulled back his chair "I'm gonna go heat this up. You want a cup? I've got a teapot in the kitchen."

Oh. Surprisingly thoughtful considering she'd basically told him she thought his dad might be one of the bad guys "Uh. What kind is it?"

Elias rolled his eyes, looking to the side with tiredness "You're pickier than a prince… It's chai."

She smiled a little wryly, her voice attempting levity but sounding fairly put out considering the previous topic "Shut up, you're a tea pleb. But yeah, I'll take a cup, thanks."

Elias sent her an unamused look at that, but couldn't help the smile that threatened to break his serious facade. It was when he was moving to the kitchenette however that there was a huge crash- Rose immediately stood up, her whole body tense and ready to fight. Elias was much the same, both of them staring at the window between the kitchenette and the living room.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry, I slipped."

Rose felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

She didn't recognize that voice. She'd never heard it before in her life.

Shortly after this exclamation however, she could make out someone standing up from the floor of the kitchenette and looking at her and Elias.

That was… undoubtedly Yakko. Even though the kitchenette was in the dark for some reason and she could see two red lights she assumed were coming from some sort of cooking machine, she could make out his silhouette.

That hadn't been his voice though.

... Maybe he'd caught a cold or something... It sounded way too deep to be his.

Elias seemed just as perturbed, staring at Yakko, still encased in shadow, like he was seeing something not of this world. She wouldn't say it was that odd, but it was definitely… surreal to suddenly hear a voice you didn't recognize from someone you did.

"Uh…" she started, sounding just as creeped out as she felt. She was normally so comfortable with Yakko, this was surreal "You sure you're okay?"

Rather than respond, he just nodded really hard so he could be seen even in shadow, which only made her feel like he was trying to conceal his weird voice change. Also the... red lights were moving with him?

... Was that...?

"Sorry for interrupting your chat I just wanted a glass of water I'll just go back to my room bye."

He spoke that last sentence really quickly in that same odd voice, as if trying to conceal his unnatural tone with how fast he said it. Then, faster than either she or Elias could stop him, he rushed back to the bedroom, leaving them staring at the closed door.

"... Okay that was weird, right? It's not just me?" Elias asked, turning to look at her with wide eyes. He looked almost scared "That. Did you see the-?"

"I'm sure it was nothing" she rushed to say, walking to him and patting his shoulder. She tried not to look as nervous as she felt as she lead him to sit back down on the chair "why don't you go back to your theorizing and I can get dinner started."

The only other time she'd seen Yakko with red eyes, it'd been rather early on in their friendship. It'd been random, and just for a second, and he hadn't seemed to notice that it was even happening. This time though... his voice had been different. It hadn't sounded like him at all, and as far as she knew, he didn't know how to do silly voices; even if he did, the range was just so different from the one he usually had that it didn't sound like they came from the same vocal cords at all.

"I don't know for sure though! Don't even know what they might want with me."

Yakko had said he didn't know what the people who he thought were after him might want from him… but she was starting to get some ideas, and she didn't like them.

Those red eyes and that drastic voice change were not natural. Yakko didn't remember his past, didn't know where he'd come from, and Elias, who had access to all kinds of records, couldn't find him in any of them… She thought it was safe to say that someone had seen it fit to erase his existence, and it could only have been for nefarious purposes. She was unsure if Yakko truly only knew as much as he'd told her, what with some of his slip ups, including him once saying 'he knew what to do' before covering it up. She didn't believe in the supernatural, but she was starting to get pretty spooked, and she didn't want to scare everyone else before she knew what was going on.

She wanted to trust that if something that could actually endanger them was going down, Yakko would tell her. He wouldn't put his family in danger either.

Elias seemed skeptical to say the least, but let the matter go for now, and Rose rushed to get some form of dinner cooked. That was not to say, however, that her mind didn't wander. What exactly was even happening…? Her head was going in circles trying to come up with a logical explanation. She even started allowing herself to wonder if Yakko had gotten possessed by a demon somehow, but shook her head to dispel those thoughts quickly. That was way too ridiculous.

As she cooked, she heard her sisters, as well as Wakko and Dot, joining Elias at the dinner table. Yakko had yet to come out, and it was worrying her.

Time passed, but she wasn't sure how much because she was so distracted. With only a gigantic question mark to show for her intensive thought session, she finished the food and brought it out, instant grumbles about "stupid potatoes" filling her ears. Marilyn particularly disliked her infamous potato salad.

"I'll… go give Yakko a plate" she said as she put the bowl down and quickly scooped out a decent portion, trying not to show her worry "He's probably still dizzy."

Everyone looked a little worried, but Elias was looking at her pointedly. He'd seen, she couldn't fool him. She completely ignored him however, escaping to hers and Yakko's room.

When she entered, it was pitch black, and she instantly felt a chill run down her spine at the thought of encountering the red eyes again all on her own. Yakko was laying in bed, arms over his eyes, seeming kind of done with life.

"… Are you okay?" she called out gently and with only a little fear "I uh… thought you might still be dizzy, so I brought you food."

Thankfully, when he moved his arms away from his face, his eyes were completely normal. His smile was gentle and thankful.

"Thanks, I am kinda dizzy… Maybe I just need to sleep."

Rose was quiet for a moment, but walked over to his bed, setting the plate of potatoes down. Yakko sat up too, giving her space, but he did look a little loopy as she inspected him. She didn't say anything for a long time, and Yakko looked a little confused and uncomfortable by the tense silence.

Then, she gave him a hug.

He startled a little, but slowly melted into her embrace, hugging back. He seemed to still be a little uncomfortable with touches, but he was getting better.

"… Why the sudden love?" he chuckled softly, amused "Did something happen?"

"… You don't remember going to the kitchen a few minutes ago, do you."

He tensed up. Badly.

"… What…?"

"Look, it's. It's fine, you don't have to tell me everything" she hugged him tighter "but if you're going through something rough, and you need help, I'm here for you. Okay?"

His body lost it's tension, but painfully slowly. She couldn't tell if he'd tensed up over being discovered or because he had no idea what she was talking about and got scared. Either way, it was not a good sign.

"… Yeah… I know" he hugged her tighter too "Thank you. I'm sorry for worrying you so much all the time."

"It's fine" she sighed, slowly letting go of him, and he did the same. She'd said her part "You're part of the team, dummy. Plus… we're friends. Friends care about each other."

Thankfully, he didn't recoil. He just smiled, and grabbed his bowl of food.

"Yeah, you're right" he chuckled and patted her shoulder "Now go back to the table, everybody's going to think you're having my funeral from how long you're taking."

With a gentle 'you stop that' slap on his hand and another laugh from Yakko, she left him in the bedroom, still shrouded in darkness.

She thought she was leaving him alone, but she didn't know he never truly was.

The ruins were larger than he was expecting, honestly.

Like, he had imagined a rather large, if dilapidated castle, not the half-fallen walls and the thousands of rocks that littered the multiple square miles making up the king's property. It was so wrecked he could barely even make out what shape it had once been, which begged the question of where a secret passage could even fit there. There was nowhere to put it!

Even with his slightly skeptical nature he'd inherited from Yakko, Wakko tried to silence his doubts as Elias, their self-proclaimed older brother, led him and Dot to a passage way that went, seemingly, nowhere. However, when he put his ear to the stone wall at the end of the corridor and pushed in a block, a spiral staircase opened beside their feet, showing them the way to the person calling himself their father.

This was going to suck.

Don't get him wrong, Wakko wanted to believe the king was their parent, desperately wanted to know where their family was and why they'd been separated from them… But at the same time, he already felt resentful of their parents. If they were still alive and wanted to see them so badly, why didn't they try to find them? Hell, if their father was the king then surely he could have done more to get in contact with them. Maybe then they wouldn't have had to go through the sheer terror of being hunted through the woods with guns at their back.

He even slightly resented Elias for bringing up going to see the king in the first place; the prince had announced that it was time he took them to see William that very morning, making everyone stressed out. Even though they'd agreed to go see William eventually, it wasn't really something they were looking forward to.

Just like Wakko and Dot themselves, Yakko wasn't too pleased, even less so when Elias refused to take him along. He didn't even provide much reason as to why, aside from "dad wants to see them", which felt kind of insulting. Yakko had protested and fumed, but a few calming words from Rose and her hands on his shoulders had shut him up, surprisingly. Wakko had wondered when they'd gotten so close that her touch was as effective to calm Yakko down as his and Dot's, but Elias had used the opportunity to basically smuggle them out of the base and to the ruins, where, currently, Elias was moving them down the long staircase underground, occasionally looking back to make sure they didn't get hurt on the way down.

"We're almost there" Elias said to them as they were nearing another stone wall at the very end of the stairs, sending a somewhat uncomfortable smile their way and effectively snapping Wakko out of his reverie "Hope you're not too nervous."

"Who? Us? Nah" Dot laughed uncomfortably, grasping at Wakko's sweater with a vice grip that said she was about to lose her cool "We're just dandy. Just going to go meet a king that is probably our father. No biggie."

Gently, Wakko pried the hand that was grabbing his sweater and almost stretching it beyond use and clasped it with his own, squeezing it softly. Her breathing started evening out, but just as he was about to let her hand go, she squeezed back and he decided that he didn't mind holding on to her for what was about to happen. They needed all the emotional support they could get.

He really wished Yakko were there... He'd know how to calm them down easily. Even if what he said wasn't always what they wanted to hear, he never failed to make them feel just the tiniest bit better.

The stone wall at the end of the staircase opened with a mechanical sound and Wakko tensed, him being the one needing the hand squeeze from Dot this time.

Elias slowly inched forward, clearly trying to stall for time so that they had a minute to take deep breaths, even as they began to see golden walls and expensive-looking portraits at the sides of the room, only succeeding in making them feel smaller and unimportant.

Such ostentatious decoration... Were they really from this world? Did they really belong here with these golden objects and everything being given to them on a silver platter? It was true that they were never poor at the studio, but they hadn't had enough money for anything other than fulfilling primary needs and buying a few cheap toys. Wakko's not entirely sure he agreed with the royal family living like this while their people starved.

But in a moment, that didn't seem to matter, because they suddenly heard a soft gasp from a ways away, coming from a huge table standing in the middle of the room. Elias only sent them a short concerned look before slowly moving out of the way of their vision, giving them full view of the man sitting at the table.

The king William, supposedly their father.

And when the man saw them his eyes lit up, a huge smile crossed his face. He even looked close to tears. Wakko couldn't deny the uncanny resemblance the shape of his face had with Elias', his smile undeniably reminded him of Dot's, and his nose was just big enough to remind him of his own, since Dot had always teased him about the cherry tomato stuck to his face.

His eyes… looked like Yakko's.

"By Zeus… it's really you. My beautiful children" the man whispered almost reverently, getting out of his seat and walking towards them. They almost immediately took a step backwards, tense and unsure, and the man stopped in his tracks. He looked sad, but understanding "… My apologies. Wakko, Dot… you have both grown so much. I am overjoyed to have been blessed with this chance to see you again."

They were both... a little uncomfortable by the clearly loving way William was looking at them, but if they really were his kids then it was understandable. Still, they were both stiff and didn't sit down just yet. Wakko saw it fit to test the man, even if it wasn't a big thing.

"… What's up with all the decoration?" he asked, looking around at the ridiculous amount of gold. Honestly, with the way things were at the moment, this flaunting of wealth was an insult "I thought this was a shelter."

"It is a relief to see you have been raised right" William laughed softly, crossing his ankles in a show of nonchalance. Wakko guessed it was to make them feel less nervous "I hate this shelter as well, would change it if I could. It was not built by me, but by our ancestors, and a few decades ago my grandfather made a few changes to the decor I do not particularly agree with" even he looked a little disgusted "To be perfectly honest with you two, I did not even know all of these things were here until we were forced to use this shelter."

"But what about the people?"

Dot protested, looking angry, but Elias' pointed look made her close her mouth. William simply smiled at the display.

"There is no need to stop their words, son, allow them to join in a discussion. There is no need to know about politics and economics while debating with family!" he said it jovially, laughing a little. He even motioned with a hand for them to sit down at the table with him, inviting Elias as well "It will help them learn, after all, and I do not mind in the slightest. Please, take a seat! Let us talk more about this."

Elias hesitated only a moment, but nodded shortly after and sat down in front of his father, patting one of the two chairs next to him so that they could sit down. He'd clearly decided to sit with them to show that he was on their side.

It made him feel slightly happy, and judging by Dot's desperate attempts at hiding a smile, it had made her feel happy too. Elias, however slowly, was starting to earn brownie points.

The king didn't seem like the Big Bad Wolf he'd imagined either, quite the contrary- his posture was lax and his laugh was bright. The unconditional love that shone in his eyes when he looked at the three of them said that he still loved them, even after all these years apart.

There was a short moment of silence after they had both sat down, Dot nervously looking between her hands sitting on her lap and William.

"You were saying, Dot?" the man smiled softly at her, encouragingly, and the tension in the youngest's shoulders melted away.

When she spoke again it was with a bit of hesitation in her voice, not because she was scared of what William would say, but because she didn't want to sound uncultured.

"... Why don't you just sell this stuff and give the money to the people?" her question, which was going to be accusing the first time she tried to say it, was now merely curious, soft-spoken.

"A perfectly good question, truly" the king said, sending them another bright smile. Any more brightness and they might go blind "That is something I have thought about a great deal, but Athena would grow suspicious if people started to have money without anything having been stolen from her, like the Freedom Squad does. Not to mention having the Warner family's possessions on the market would be very telling as to who was responsible. That would lead her directly to us, you see."

That was an extremely good point and Wakko wondered how he hadn't thought of it sooner. But regardless, he was gearing up for another question, one that had less to do with WarnerStock's economy and more to do with what was going to happen from then on.

"If..." he trailed off when William's attention turned to him, but the ever-present smile relaxed his muscles and he continued "If you really are our father..." he was glad when the man didn't bother saying that it was pretty obvious that he was "What will that mean for us? For our lives, I mean."

The king answered his question with a question "Do you want things to change? Or do you wish for them to remain as they are?"

He didn't even have to think about it, but images of him and Dot with Yakko slipped through his mind anyway, and even though it was more recent and less important, HQ also came to mind. Running around with Rose, learning first-aid with StarDust, building with Marilyn...

"We'd like things to stay the same" Dot beat him to the answer, her expression serious, but it softened the slightest bit a moment later "But... It would be good if we could keep in touch."

That was clearly the best possible answer because William's smile became radiant, and Elias' form relaxed almost instantly next to them, letting out a breath of relief and sending them his own soft smile.

"I am so glad you have given us this opportunity" the man's eyes misted and he looked about ready to cry "I am... I am so happy you are alive and well. I cannot begin to imagine the hardships you must have had to endure..."

"It wasn't that bad" Dot laughed a bit uncomfortably, both because she didn't know how to react to the king crying and because she wasn't sure what was safe to tell him "We had food and shelter, and the work wasn't too bad either."

"Speaking of," he began, and this was what they'd been fearing "I have been told that you used to have someone who cared for you a long time ago... I would like to know more. I wished to thank them for keeping you safe and sound but… I have been informed that they passed away."

Wakko cursed inside his head. This was exactly what they'd been trying to avoid... bringing Yakko into the conversation. Rose had told them the night before: don't mention Yakko.

It had confused them at first, because what if William was happy to see Yakko and simply accepted him as one of his own? Then they could all be a happy family... Why was Rose, someone who clearly cared about Yakko, so against that? But then she'd looked at them seriously and sat them down for an... interesting chat.

She'd said it as gently as she could, but they'd both understood the gravity of what she was saying. Yakko was a wild card. Someone nobody really knew existed, and if someone did know? Then that person had most likely been involved with whatever caused someone to erase their older brother's existence from WarnerStock's records. Something that, in her words, could only have been done by someone with bad intentions. She had underlined that Elias trusted William, but she didn't, and that she wasn't about to put Yakko in possible danger. Then she'd asked them, as Yakko's siblings, what they wanted to do. What they thought the best choice was.

In the end, they'd decided against telling William anything. Even if they would like to ask about Yakko, and though William could even welcome him with open arms... it was simply too much of a risk. The thought of possibly putting their brother in danger had made them both freeze, immediately choosing the safer option. So they wouldn't say anything, pretend they'd been able to live by in the human world by themselves and that Yakko was dead. It wasn't any more far-fetched than saying they were with Yakko the whole time.

"A long time ago. He... Well, there was an... accident. He didn't make it" Wakko agreed, a knot forming in his throat at even the thought of Yakko dying. It would have been one thing if the scenario had been entirely made up, but Yakko had legitimately almost died and neither he nor Dot were entirely over that, even though the only part they'd seen of what had happened was their older brother in the infirmary covered in casts "We... We were able to scrape by after that. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't exactly easy."

"... I see..."

Dot's lip wobbled and he could pinpoint the moment her heart broke at the sight of William's cheery eyes turning sad. The man tried to keep a composed face, but only managed to let out a choked "I am sorry for your loss."

And the scene would have been absolutely hilarious to anyone else (if Yakko were looking at the scene he would no doubt really die- but of laughter) because they were crying over someone who wasn't even dead. He was perfectly alive and healthy, a few miles from the ruins, probably still pouting about being left behind.

But the mere thought of their beloved brother dying, especially considering he almost had, was enough to bring very real tears from both the younger Warner's eyes, especially when William looked so sad, when he really thought he'd died. Elias was merely looking down as if mourning silently, but it was clear from how his eyes constantly went to stare at Wakko and Dot that he was just waiting for the act to end.

William looked like he wanted to ask more for a moment, but looking at Wakko and Dot's expressions made him shrivel up and smile sadly at them instead.

"Well, going back to... What we were talking about…" the king cleared his throat in an obvious attempt to change the subject, letting out a long breath as he and Dot dried their tears "I was hoping you could tell me a bit about yourselves as well, what happened while you have been gone... so we could get to know each other better."

Wakko hesitated, but Dot immediately perked up and began talking about the first thing she remembered. Her squeaky voice starting what was no doubt a long tale prompted him to put his head in his hand, knowing this was going to take a while. William and Elias listened intently, laughed at the funny parts and looked sad at the not-so-good ones. They looked especially torn up when she recounted the water tower incident, the moment they'd both decided they'd pretend Yakko died. Even Elias, who knew Yakko had survived the accident and was waiting for them at the base, looked somber. He hadn't been told the details about how Yakko had gotten amnesia after all. Wakko and Dot fought back tears during that and William looked legitimately upset, but Dot made sure to go to more cheery memories soon after. Like the time they'd all tried flipping pancakes and Wakko got one stuck to the ceiling somehow, a tale they all laughed at. Wakko, however, quickly grew bored and stared off into space. He could already tell this was going to be a very long tale...

Warnings: Talk about stillborn children and general death. Not much else about this chapter