A/N: Heyyyyyy everybody... it's been a hot minute, hasn't it? What a fucking year it's been so far.
I won't lie, this chapter is rough- I finally forced myself to make a rough draft of it after a lot of procrastinating and fighting with my writer's block, but fixing it up proved to be almost impossible, considering that the whole chapter is like one scene filled with conversation. Also, said conversation is very important, which meant i couldn't just divert attention by going too in-depth into characters' thoughts and feelings and whatnot. So forgive me for the rough-ass chapter, but there's plenty of theory-fodder for you guys to ponder on. Hope you guys enjoy it!
Aside from the chapter itself, I have a few announcements; I wanna try and re-write this story at some point in time, but also want to finish this version of it. So my plan is this: finish this version of the story while I write the prequel (backstory) for the new version, and once that's done I'll start writing the new version while finishing with this version. There is also an Alternate Universe story I'm working on that I'm honestly really excited about, just need to fix up the world building a little. All I'm gonna say for now is that it's heavily inspired on both ReZero and My Next Life As A Villainess: All Routes Lead To Doom, but all I take from those stories are the concepts. You'll be able to see all your favorite characters from this story in it, and it'll be a hell of an angst-fest. Prepare for Yakko to die a lot.
I also wanna ask something; would you guys want me to make a sort of summary for what 'we know so far' on my tumblr? I usually don't use tumblr anymore but I can't really write a summary on twitter since it's too long. I figured that with this being heavy on mystery and it taking so long to update you guys would benefit from this. Do tell me what you think!
Warnings in the end notes as usual
"Does it really have to be him?"
"For the fifth time, Yakko, yes, it does have to be him."
"Noooo whyyyyy he's so annoyinggggg."
As Yakko whined about the awful state of things, most notably the fact that they had to go see the annoying conductor that never seemed to mind his own business, Rose rolled her eyes and pulled him along by his wrist, dragging him around the train station that they'd just arrived at.
According to her, Nicolas had been busy getting intel for them about the Pass Watchers and their odd disappearance and had contacted the Milers via grapevine to come to the station so he could fill them in. Rose and her sisters had planned on coming alone, but Wakko and Dot were with Elias and William, which meant that Yakko was an extra piece that they didn't want to leave by himself at HQ. Therefore, Rose had ordered him to come with them.
Well… That wasn't the only reason, and Yakko could tell just from the way Rose had tried to persuade him first instead of ordering him. She was trying to get his mind off of his siblings' meeting with the King and how that could impact their future, and truly, he did appreciate the thought, but… God, couldn't they have done something else instead of going to see Nicolas?! Literally anything else.
For some reason, Yakko really disliked the conductor. Be it that Nicolas was constantly rude to him or just that Yakko didn't like his face, there was something that just irked Yakko about him. Rose knew this, hell, everyone in the group knew it at this point, but Rose was still dragging Yakko with them to this little meet up because she just couldn't bare to leave him to his moping in HQ.
If only she could show that same sympathy with her words.
"C'mon, Yakko, at least pretend to be an adult" Rose sighed as she dropped his wrist and squinted at him, clearly chiding him for his childish antics "Seeing someone you don't get along with isn't the end of the world. Suck it up and just be professional."
"Yeah, yeah" he rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. He was entirely too upset about the situation for what it actually entailed "All I have to do is 'stay still and be quiet'. But you know he's gonna poke fun at me!"
"Then you'll just have to pretend he didn't say anything. Y'know. Like an adult on a job does."
Yakko grumbled as they heard a train whistle, the train Nicolas was arriving in moving down the tracks toward them. Rose, Marilyn and StarDust quickly stood at attention and stared at the train while Yakko sulked and glared at the ground.
"Okay team, remember what we discussed; Star'll go inside when the train stops and talk to Nicolas, tell him to follow her" Rose mumbled the plan, if you could call it that, one more time to them, nodding subtly to a dark corner on the other side of the train station from where they were standing "The rest of us will be waiting over there, and when Star and Nicolas get there, we'll pretend we're just talking about happy and normal things while he gives us the intel we need."
"Happy and normal things? Like what? Puppies and kittens?" Yakko decided to quip as the train slowed down to arrive at the station. He still looked very irritated.
Rose rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh "God, Yakko I don't know, pretend you're talking about the damn weather or something! Just don't let your expression show we're talking about serious shit."
"Will do cap'n."
He rolled his eyes at her right back, and he only got to see her narrow her eyes at him for a moment before the train stopped in front of them. StarDust quickly hopped inside the train once it stopped moving and opened its doors, calling out to someone, all while Yakko and the rest walked to the dark corner and pretended to just be casually standing there. Luckily none of the regular train-hoppers seemed to find them suspicious, as people came and went, and by the time StarDust stepped off with Nicolas in tow, they were the only ones at the station.
The train blew its whistle and it began chugging along once again, leaving to the next station, while StarDust and Nicolas walked towards them.
"Remember what I said" Rose frowned at him one last time, her voice quiet. She seemed particularly irritated with him today, and Yakko could only guess it was because she really needed the intel Nicolas was about to give them and Yakko was getting in her way by being a child "Just stay quiet and let me handle it. If he says something, don't quip back. We'll be here for the rest of eternity if you two start fighting."
"Fine, I'll be good" Yakko hissed back, staring at the pair that was walking toward them "Just tell me one thing; why exactly are we meeting in a dark corner and being so secretive about this when you're usually content to talk about information right there in the train cart?"
At this, Rose actually seemed a little shocked "You really haven't noticed? I've been getting nasty shivers since we got inside Artemis, and you're usually even more observant than I am."
Yakko thought back to how he'd been feeling since they'd gotten out of the base, stressed and particularly hissy, jumping at pretty much every shadow that he saw, thinking that people were watching him the whole time. But that was pretty much a slightly more distressed version of how he usually was, and he'd tried not to give it too much thought. After all, he didn't have his siblings with him, so he was understandably more volatile than normal that day.
"You mean I wasn't just being paranoid?" he asked quietly, looking around them as inconspicuously as he could.
Rose shook her head "For once, no. We're being followed. I'm not sure who it is but I've got a strong suspicion it's Athena's doing" she clicked her tongue and frowned "She's probably trying to find our base, or tracking our movements. Something is up, and that's especially why we need Nicolas' intel."
"… So Athena's lackeys know we're meeting up with Nicolas and you don't want it to seem suspicious and cause it to turn the train station into a place that's no longer safe" Yakko reasoned, getting a nod from Rose, and it caused him to sigh "Guess that makes sense."
"Take it that means you'll behave?"
Yakko rolled his eyes at her again "Sure. But if he crosses a line with me then I won't be held accountable for what I say back."
"For fuck's sake Yakko-"
"Damn, you brought the kid with you. Why can it never be just us four anymore?" Nicolas interrupted Rose's curse with his own jab at Yakko, and he bristled immediately, sending a sneer the older man's way.
"Nicolas, for the love of God, don't make this harder than it needs to be" Rose sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her index finger and thumb, but quickly regained her wits "Just tell us what we need to know and we'll be on our way. But be careful, we've been followed."
"Right."
Immediately, the conductor's demeanor changed and the Milers' changed with him, becoming more relaxed and comfortable. Yakko forced his expression to mimic theirs, pretending they were having the most pleasant conversation in existence.
"So this is about the Pass Watchers, right?" Rose asked, a wide smile on her face. She then crinkled her eyes playfully like she was telling a joke "How bad is it? Should we be switching bases?"
Marilyn laughed at the 'joke', and they all laughed with her, Nicolas' information being relayed through laughter.
"Athena's been chasing your tail since the kid and those two other balls of energy started being around you" the conductor chuckled, then proceeded to pretend like he was telling some kind of story, moving his hands a little wildly like one would to exaggerate the details and make it funnier "I can tell there's spies watching you, have been checking them for a while… but there's something alarming about them."
"Alarming?" Rose's grin widened. She was stressed "More alarming than them following us everywhere?"
Nicolas very clearly fought to keep up the happy conversation facade, his eyes becoming hard while his mouth, mannerisms and speaking tone continued to be pleasant.
"From what I can gather there's two distinctly different teams following you" he explained, and they all had to fight not to flinch or tense up. They hadn't been expecting that "One of them is clearly Athena's Pass Watchers, which is why we haven't seen them around. The other… I'm not sure who they are. It doesn't seem good though."
For a moment, everyone struggled to figure out what to say next, shocked by the information. Yakko himself had cold sweat running down his nape, recalling the voice's explanation from a few days ago telling him there were people in their past that they didn't want to meet… but thankfully StarDust managed to say something and still pretend to be having a good conversation.
"We figured taking in the Warners was a risk, but it was one we were willing to take. However, we did not anticipate anyone other than Athena to be after them" she explained, looking down at the ground in thought for a moment, her smile cracking at the corners "Do you think there could be some sort of group wanting to assassinate them?"
Yakko's mere stress became outright panic, and he started shaking, fighting back a scared expression.
Assassinate them? Because they were probably William's children? And Yakko was in the same boat too, but who cared, his siblings could be in danger, he wasn't with them, only Elias was, who was pretty much the biggest target there was for these people-
He was slowly having a meltdown.
- … It'll be fine, Yakko. Let's just… hear what he has to say, okay? Wakko and Dot are in a secret base, as safe as they can probably be. -
What the voice said made sense, but it didn't abate Yakko's fear. Instead of calming down, he hugged his arms to him so as to at least ease the shaking. It wasn't working.
"I'm not sure" Nicolas replied to StarDust, sighing. He shook his head like it was just a mild inconvenience, but it was clear that he was upset about the situation "At the very least it seems to me that they're mostly just watching and waiting… for what I don't know. The important part is that Athena's your biggest threat right now, I think. I've got my own group with eyes set on the other shadows following you."
Yakko perked up at this despite his stress, still quivering.
A group? Nicolas had a group of his own? Why hadn't Yakko been informed about this? Why didn't Rose mention it? Sure, they might not have been relevant to his investigation of his past, but he couldn't help but remember the cashier from the food court and how they'd clearly given him directions to go somewhere, probably to meet up with the other people from Yakko's and the voice's past. Surely there couldn't be that many organized groups in hiding in WarnerStock?
The fact that Yakko could feel the voice getting all the more nervous as the conversation continued only felt like more of a sign that something was up. Yakko just wished he could be less shaky so he could ask, but he truly was feeling under the weather. He even felt a headache coming on.
"Speaking of; would your group be willing to help us bring Athena down?" Rose asked, a hint of pleading in her eyes "You know we need all the manpower we can get, and-"
"Sorry, Rose. We can't" the man quickly dashed her hopes, and Rose clearly tried very hard not to seem disappointed "I'd be up for helping you, but the others are too scared, or just plain against William. Nicole in particular wants nothing to do with it, and you know she's pretty much our leader… Alexandra and I just can't help you this time."
A sudden pang of hurt passed through Yakko's head at the names 'Nicole' and 'Alexandra', making him flinch and close one of his eyes in pain. The voice was getting agitated, telling him he should probably sit down, but Yakko was more focused on the conversation than ever.
Who was Nicole? Who was Alexandra? Why had he reacted so strongly to those names?
Yakko was feeling woozy. Scratch that, more than woozy, if the way his vision was swimming and his ears were ringing was any indication.
Nicole… Alexandra… The names sounded familiar, too familiar.
He thought he was going to hurl.
- J-Just some random warners we met at the market! Nothing to think too deeply about. -
Desperation had started to leak into the voice's tone, and it only made Yakko all the more curious. He needed to know.
He tried his best to breathe through the dizziness spell, trying to think about where he knew those names from, but thinking only gave him even more of a headache and made him feel worse. It didn't take long for him to be softly panting in the background while Rose basically pleaded with Nicolas and the conductor had to say no multiple times.
The voice softly tried to steer his attention away from the conversation and any thoughts about Nicolas' group, instead trying to instruct him to calm himself down. It wasn't working.
He needed to know.
"Fuck" Rose swore at Nicolas' vehement refusal, and unable to help herself, she started tapping her foot a little in a nervous rhythm "Okay, that blows… but at least we have William's troops on our side" she sighed "Can we trust that you and your group will keep the peace here when we go fight her?"
Nicolas sighed.
"Well-"
"Your group. Who are they?"
Suddenly everyone turned to look at Yakko, who at this point was pretty much holding himself on the wall for support, looking like he was very close to passing out. Rose reacted immediately, making a noise of fear and pulling him close to her.
The voice made the exact same sound of fear.
"Holy fuck, Yakko are you okay?" she'd completely abandoned the ruse about them having a happy conversation, although having him almost passing out was clearly already messing with their plans, so he guessed it wouldn't make much sense to keep pretending "Here, sit down- fuck, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?"
Despite the fact that Yakko felt very much unwell, he waved her off, though he did sit down at her fussing. There were more important things he was focused on, and every second he wasn't getting answers he only felt the anxiety in his heart grow.
"I'm fine" he said shakily; he needed to know more about who the conductor was talking about. Now "I need- I need to know about the people Nicolas is working with."
- Don't think about it, it's not important! -
"… Kinda an odd priority to have right now, don't you think, kid?" the conductor was looking at him oddly, up and down as if trying to figure something out "You look like you need to relax for a bit-"
"Forget that!" at this point Yakko's voice was pleading. He needed those names! Why wasn't anyone giving them to him!? "I- I need names, I need-!"
"Yakko, please" Rose sounded like she was feeling woozy herself, eyes wide, confused and scared, not knowing what was happening or why Yakko was reacting this way. He himself had no idea why either "Just- Just stay still and let Star take a look at you, okay? You're probably just having a panic attack-"
- Y-Yeah it's just- just a panic attack, just stay calm and- -
"Nicolas!" Yakko's voice was almost a screech as he looked at the conductor, and Nicolas stared back with wide eyes. He looked scared "Names, give me names! Who are they?!"
He didn't know why, didn't know why this was so important- but he needed to know, needed to know the names, needed to know who-
- Don't-! -
He needed to know who was still alive-
Almost as if in response to the thought, Yakko violently threw himself to the side, away from Rose, and chucked up his lunch.
- Fuck, fuck, fuck- -
"God, fuck- Yakko are you okay?! Star, help me out here!"
Rose sounded beyond herself with worry, and at this point Marilyn was kneeling at one side of him, a hand on his shoulder as if to steady him, while Stardust was in front of him with Rose, looking serious. Rose herself had her hands on his cheeks, as if trying to keep him there with them, staring into his eyes with panic.
Yakko however, could barely see beyond the distortion of the world around him. He felt so close to passing out it felt like he'd gone beyond that point and was now sleep walking, eyes wide open and cloudy, unable to think clearly.
All he could think of were the names.
"It truly seems to just be a panic attack, if not a horrible one" StarDust said to Rose quietly, clearly trying not to disturb Yakko's episode. He was shaking so badly Rose could have sworn he was about to fall apart "Clearly something Nicolas said triggered him somehow."
The conductor reacted with anger immediately "Hey, don't blame me for the kid's hangups! I didn't say anything weird-"
"W-Who…" Yakko's voice was soft and shaky at this point, not seeming quite there. Rose didn't even know if he had any idea what he was saying by now, but he kept speaking, pleading with Nicolas "Who is it… Who's still…"
"Yakko, please, just stay still okay? We'll take care of you."
Rose was begging with him at this point, begging him to let it go. Telling him with gentle words that whatever he was trying to find out wasn't as important as his health, rubbing her thumbs over the dark and deep bags under his eyes. His eyes automatically squinted a little in response, but aside from that he didn't even seem to be registering that she was doing it. She only turned her head for a moment to talk to Marilyn, expression serious.
"Mary, I need you to bring him something to drink. Preferably something with sugar in it."
Marilyn didn't waste any time, her expression also serious as she started to get up "On it."
Rose only saw her feet briskly move away from her line of sight before she focused right back onto Yakko, whose cloudy stare were still on Nicolas. She didn't know how or why he knew about the conductor's group or why it was so important to him to find out about who was part of it, but Rose's main priority was keeping him safe.
"Yakko-" she tried once again, but Yakko interrupted her, gaze sharp and on Nicolas.
"N-Nicolas. Please" his voice was but a rasp at that point. Rose tried to shush him, but Yakko continued despite her attempts to calm him down "I- I need to know who- who made it-"
Nicolas sounded legitimately taken aback by that, mumbling a soft "… You… What…?"
It made Rose turn her head sharply toward the conductor, expression hard and furious. He fucking knew something-!
"If you know something about this Nicolas, then for God's sake give him what he's asking for" Rose hissed "It's just some names, right? Just give them to him!"
The man started to look outright panicked "I- I can't! There's- They're watching and-"
Yakko made the noise of a wounded animal and moved his head away to cough, looking like he was going to vomit again. Luckily he didn't, but he went right back to his spot and curled in on himself with wide, panicked eyes, hands clutching at the hair on his head, clearly terrified about something.
"W-W-Who…" he stuttered, his voice small and pitiful, scared out of his mind, but still so focused on this one thing. Rose didn't think it was going to end until he got some answers.
"I don't give a fuck who's listening, Nicolas! Speak quietly but speak!"
Rose finally snarled at the man, her hands shaking on Yakko's shoulders while StarDust kept an eternal eye on him to check for any changes. Her expression was hard too, and she briefly posed a hand on Yakko's forehead to check on his temperature. Yakko didn't even flinch.
It felt like an eternity before Nicolas finally walked towards the corner where Yakko was sitting, cursing all the while, until he kneeled in front of him. The man's expression was grave, and his voice was quiet, but Yakko's huge eyes stuck themselves on him immediately, his attention drawn.
"… Like I said. Nicole and Alexandra are okay" Nicolas said, and immediately Yakko made a small noise of pain and hid his face in his knees. Rose wasn't sure if that was meant to make Nicolas continue or not, but he did "… Carmen is okay. Alice, Oliver, Maddison, Julia… they're all okay-"
When Yakko let out what sounded like an actual sob was when Rose decided they had to stop.
"Okay… that's enou-"
"No!"
Yakko's shriek took all of them off guard, as did him taking his face away from his knees to look at Nicolas with crazed eyes "I- I need more, I need to know if everyone-!"
Then, just as suddenly as he'd started screaming, his eyes rolled upward and closed, and Rose just barely managed to catch him before he could face plant onto the floor.
"Fuck-!" Rose held him close, shaking, cradling his head against her shoulder "We need to-!"
"It's okay, Rose" StarDust was thankfully there to calm her down, a hand on her shoulder and a soft, reassuring smile on her face "He just passed out. It seems like he's okay aside from his attack, so we should not worry unnecessarily. Lets just wait until Marilyn gets back and-"
"… Rose."
She felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand up at the sudden deep voice coming from what was supposed to be an unconscious Yakko.
Instead of just staying there cradled in her arms, he slowly moved to sit up, eyes still closed, and moved his head toward her.
"I want to speak to Nicolas alone."
"Uh-" to say Rose was having some strong whiplash was an understatement. First he was having an attack, then he passed out, then he was… speaking way too coherently and with his eyes closed? "Are… Are you sure you're okay? You still have your eyes closed and you did just pass out-"
"I need to talk to him. Alone."
His tone was hard and unforgiving, but his eyes were still closed. His voice was also that same oddly deep and unfamiliar one that she'd heard the other day with Elias…
… She didn't like this one bit, but she needed to see where it went. Something was fishy.
"… Alright" she murmured, glancing at Nicolas, who was staring down at Yakko with an expression of bewilderment. When she turned to StarDust, her older sister didn't look much different "We'll move to the other side of the station… but if I hear anything weird I'm coming back."
"Rose?" StarDust looked at her with even more bewilderment, understandably so considering Rose wouldn't ordinarily leave Yakko alone after what had just happened "Are you sure we-"
"We'll be right here, Star, don't worry" she reassured her sister as she stood up and stretched, and StarDust reluctantly did the same "Call if you need anything, okay? We'll make sure to tell you when Mary comes back with your soda."
Nicolas didn't seem super enthused about this, but he sat down in front of Yakko (who still had his eyes closed), and Rose and StarDust started moving to the other end of the train station.
However, when they were only a little bit away from the two's line of sight, Rose suddenly pressed herself against the wall and made the universal sign for "shh" to StarDust, who understood her immediately. She nodded slowly and kept walking by herself, while Rose found a spot behind an old ticket booth that was close-by enough to Yakko and Nicolas for her to eavesdrop. She wouldn't have usually done this… but something was clearly up with Yakko and she needed to know what it was. Something wasn't right, to the point that she really was wondering if she'd just talked to a ghost that was possessing him. She just… needed more information.
When she found a good spot, Rose peeked only slightly from behind the booth and was able to see Nicolas and Yakko clearly. Yakko still had his eyes closed.
"… Are they gone?" Yakko asked, voice still too deep to be his.
"… Yeah" Nicolas seemed just as perturbed about the change as Rose was "So… Why did you send them away exactly? Did you not want them to know about the others? … Did you fake the attack?"
Rose really didn't think that was it, but she knew Yakko a lot better than Nicolas did. That was also how she noticed that the smile that appeared on his face was too wide, too malicious, to be his.
"I did no such thing" Yakko's smile widened, became a smirk. It didn't look like him at all "I sent them away because the contents of what we're about to talk about are… sensitive. They shouldn't know about it, for their own good."
Nicolas' eyes narrowed, frown deepening "I can't argue with that, but… why are you keeping your eyes closed?"
Yakko chuckled "The light's bothering me. I did just have a panic attack you know-"
"Stop playing with me you brat!" the conductor hissed, hands clenched into fists. Surprisingly however, he seemed uncharacteristically stressed "Open your damn eyes! If you truly are one of us then you know why any of us wouldn't like someone who doesn't show them!"
Yakko's smirk widened to a grin "Do you really think you should be talking to me that way? If I were you I'd be a little more careful."
… That was very clearly a threat. What was going on?
"But since you insist" Yakko sighed, shaking his head for a moment "Sure, I'll open them. The Milers aren't around to raise a fuss anyway."
At that moment, Yakko's eyes opened and Rose had to clap a hand over her mouth to stop the gasp from escaping.
His irises were unmistakably red. It was a kind of unnatural red, too bright and fluorescent to be coming from eyes. To top it off, his pupils were not only black, but they were barely a thin slit, like a cat's when they're angry but far thinner.
That wasn't Yakko. That wasn't from this world- warner, human or otherwise. Rose found herself trembling from her hiding spot, wondering what the hell she'd gotten involved in.
Nicolas seemed even more perturbed than her if at all possible. He'd gone entirely white and had started shaking.
"… Zeus help us…" he muttered shakily to himself. Yakko- no, whatever this thing was- laughed in response.
"You get it yet?" the creature leaned a little closer to Nicolas and the man scrambled backwards, a very clear expression of fear on his face. The thing laughed even more at that "I am not to be messed with, conductor. You and your little group needs to stay away from us."
Nicolas almost seemed like he was ready to turn tail and run, but somehow managed to keep himself rooted to the spot, still shaking but eyeing the creature wearing Yakko's skin wearily "… W-What do you want with the kid? Why are you… in him?"
Rose wanted the answer to that question as well, and she clenched her fists as she hoped the creature would say something she could use against it. However, the smirk fell from its face and it instead turned a bored and somewhat upset expression to Nicolas.
"Do you really think i'm like this because I want to be? That we had a choice? It's the same as everything else; whatever they wanted got done."
Rose hissed quietly at how cryptic the thing was being, but Nicolas seemed to understand, if his expression turning grave was any indication.
"… Are you going to hurt him?"
Rose's claws dug into the ticket booth's wall.
"No" the thing said, and Rose wished she could believe it, but just like she wanted to do, Nicolas scoffed. The creature rolled its eyes "Truly. That was never, and will never be, my intention. I mean, he's my host, why would I do that?"
… Host? Well, Rose guessed that it was living inside Yakko's body, but that sounded so…
Nicolas sneered at it "So you don't have to have a half existence?"
"Oh, so you think I want to kill his consciousness" Rose bristled, a cold sweat forming, but luckily the creature kept speaking with an unconcerned tone "That's also not in the cards. Although… strange that you worry about him now of all times when you seemed to enjoy antagonizing him before."
Nicolas took great offense at this "I was only-! Look, I was just playing around, and I… I got some pent up resentment against the Warner family" he looked to the ground for a moment in slight shame, but looked back to the thing a moment later, filled with righteous anger "But that was all before I knew that he had a fucking-"
"Parasite?"
The creature smirked again. Rose felt like she was going to pass out next.
"… Sure. It's a word to call you, anyways" Nicolas grumbled to himself, scratching at the back of his neck. At the very least he seemed a lot less freaked out than initially… hopefully that meant that he believed what the thing was saying "What I mean is that I'm on his side, and if you even lay a finger on him everyone's gonna-"
The creature wearing Yakko's skin had been fairly calm until then, but suddenly its eyes widened and they snarled dangerously at Nicolas, causing both him and Rose to become pretty much paralyzed with fear for a moment.
"Don't. Dare. Come near us."
The creature and Nicolas had a staring contest, and it wasn't until the conductor slowly nodded his head that the thing seemed to relax, in turn causing Nicolas and Rose to do the same. But they were definitely more on guard now.
"I won't hurt him" the thing specified again, but its gaze was hard "But you will not get near us. Especially Nicole, Alexandra… and Carmen, since she's apparently alive."
"… She is" Nicolas assured it, looking somewhat weirded out by the fact that it knew the people these names corresponded to "And you know them why?"
"You really think I appeared out of thin air?" the thing laughed to itself, shaking its head "The bastards aren't good enough to make life by themselves. I'm actually surprised you don't recognize me, Nicolas."
Nicolas' eyes were wide "… So they really-"
"Forget that, it's not important" the thing waved the conductor off, looking to the side with… melancholy? "This isn't about me, it's about Yakko."
"… Right" Nicolas seemed less afraid and more concerned now, looking at the creature with new eyes "… Are you sure you don't want to come back with us, kid? Who knows, maybe we could help-"
"I don't need your help. What I need is for all of you to stay far away from us" the creature bristled, entirely closing itself off after the brief moment of genuine feelings it'd showed the conductor "Don't attempt to contact us, or you will suffer the consequences. Your little blue friend already caused enough havoc."
Nicolas sighed at the creature's refusal, shaking his head lightly "You mean Oliver? He did say something about encountering one of us the other day."
"Whoever it was, doesn't matter" the thing huffed "They were stupidly obvious, almost caused a lot of trouble for us."
Rose had no idea what they were talking about… She didn't remember any 'blue friend' that could have been in contact with Yakko. In the first place he usually wasn't far away from them, so she should've noticed…
Nicolas continued with another sigh "They're just a kid, lay off. Plus, they were shaken up at having met three oh two. Most of us didn't even expect the kid to be alive."
302… Was that supposed to be Yakko?
The creature smirked at the conductor "You saw him earlier than anyone else, you know. And you didn't recognize him."
Nicolas frowned even deeper "Of course I didn't, kid is nothing like he used to be! He looks so…"
"Different? Yeah. That's a good thing."
Rose could have sworn the thing's smile was actually genuine that time.
"I know" Nicolas looked to the side, thinking "Kid still looks thin as hell, but at least he has some meat on his bones now. And he finally got a haircut. Can actually see his eyes now" the man chuckled for a moment, but when he turned and looked back at the still smiling thing, his own smile dropped and he gave a long suffering sigh, putting his face in his hands "… Fuck, what am I doing. Reminiscing with a Klona of all things."
"I'll have you know I'm a great conversational partner" the Klona(?) seemed to preen, clearly proud of this "Yakko thinks so."
So Yakko knew this thing was in him? Rose didn't know what to think at this point, was mostly trying her best to just keep mental notes.
Nicolas scoffed "Got the kid fooled into thinking you're some kind of cuddly creature he can just talk to, do you?"
The proud expression on the Klona's face dropped and just like that, it looked serious and dangerous again. Nicolas shook his head.
"Hah, figures. Kid really is as dumb as he looks" the conductor had gone back to looking at the Klona with suspicion rather than the kindness he'd offered earlier "Still… he's one of our own, and you've become something that isn't. I won't let you hurt him."
The Klona bristled at Nicolas' words, whether it was from him implying that it would hurt Yakko once again or because he'd rejected it as one of their own, Rose wasn't sure "I already told you I won't do that."
"And I should trust you why? You're a Klona."
"A Klona who has kept him alive for seven years and will continue to do so."
They had another staring contest, both of them very clearly distrusting one another. Rose wanted to bite at her claws with how stressed she was.
"… You don't have to trust me, Nicolas" the Klona finally broke the tension, sighing "You just have to stay out of our way. All of you."
Nicolas took a second to respond, his expression wary "… And you won't erase his consciousness?"
"I have no intention to keep this body as my own, so no. I am content simply sharing it."
The Klona seemed angry at this point at being continuously questioned. Luckily Nicolas seemed to realize this, because with a final sigh, his body sagged in place.
"… Fuck. I can't believe I'm trusting a Klona" the conductor dragged a hand down his face, clearly not entirely happy about this. Once he was done though, he pinned the Klona with a fierce glare "Fine. But if I hear from the Milers that you hurt the kid, me and my group will hunt you down, beast."
"I will say it as many times as necessary; I don't intend to hurt him" the Klona rolled its eyes, but smiled wryly at the conductor a moment later "But I'm glad we could come to an understanding. Don't tell the Milers or I'll rip your eyes out."
The graphic threat made Rose tense, not expecting it, but Nicolas seemed to take it in stride. Or at least he was trying to, because he shuddered before he continued on like it didn't bother him.
"No need for the threats, sheesh… I wasn't going to anyway" the man took a glance to the other end of the train station where Rose was supposed to be with StarDust but he couldn't see even her sister from there, so Rose was safe in her eavesdropping "They don't need to know about any of this. Too dangerous."
"Exactly" the Klona's grin became dangerous again "Pleasure doing business with you. Please make up a logical reason for why 'I passed out again' before the Milers come here."
Nicolas rolled his eyes "Won't be hard, kid's a ball of nerves. Although considering what I know about him now it makes perfect sense" he nodded "I got 'im. Go back to your cave and stay there."
The Klona scoffed, but seemed to agree, because he slowly moved himself to lay down on the floor "You don't need to insist, I wanna go back anyway. I don't think I need to threaten you not to tell Yakko about any of this either, right?"
"… I figured there was a reason why you came to talk to me rather than the kid" the conductor stared down at the Klona, pensive "So I got it, I won't say more than what I have already."
"Good" with a sigh, the Klona closed its eyes "For your own good, I hope we don't meet again."
And just like that, the thing was gone and Yakko was back. Rose could tell by the way his voice had gone back to a higher pitch when he groaned and slowly sat up, holding his head, but his eyes going back to normal when he opened them sealed the deal. He immediately put his back to the wall and turned his head this way and that, clearly disoriented and unsure of what was going on.
"Wh- Wha-" his voice stuttered, lost, having just become lucid again. Then, he noticed Nicolas "N-Nicolas? What-"
"You passed out. Twice" the man told him simply, moving to stand up "You said you wanted to speak to me in private but, doubt you remember that. You were pretty out of it."
"… Right…" Yakko looked suspicious, but not enough to question the conductor when he still clearly felt like shit. He held his head with a hand and hissed, eyes clenching closed "Ugh, Jesus… Feels like I just got ran over…"
"Well good thing I got you a soda then!"
As if appearing out of thin air, Marilyn walked to Yakko and Nicolas from the opposite side that Rose was hiding in, meaning their backs were to her. Rose took this as her opportunity to present herself and pretend that she hadn't eavesdropped on the entire conversation and also wasn't about to have a panic attack of her own.
"You okay, Yakko?" Rose said casually once she was out of her hiding spot and walking toward them, and thankfully neither Nicolas nor Yakko look at her with suspicion. It'd been a successful recon mission, even if it'd left her with shaky legs and the need to hide in her room for a while "Fainting twice is no small feat, even for you…"
"I… think I'm okay" Yakko replied groggily, blinking several times as if coming out of a dream. Well… considering that the Klona had successfully taken over his body for a few minutes, Rose guessed it made sense that he'd feel weird "The world's still kind of swimming but uh…"
"I got'cha" Marilyn quickly handed the soda to Yakko, who started sipping at it.
At that moment StarDust appeared behind Rose and, without mention of what Rose had done, walked up to Yakko to inspect him. While Yakko let himself be poked at for a little bit, Rose was having her own internal meltdown while pretending she was perfectly fine.
So. Whatever this… "Klona" thing was- a parasite, ghost, demon, whatever- it was sharing Yakko's body. Although it seemed like this had been done without either Yakko's or the Klona's consent if its words were to be trusted… it was an irrefutable fact. The Klona could take control of Yakko's body and walk around at its leisure, although with those eyes… it would get more than just some strange looks, so Rose doubted it'd do that too often, especially not where others could see it. Rose could only guess that the Klona trusted them as little as they- or well, her- trusted it, considering it'd been eavesdropping on her conversation with Elias the other day. It also didn't want them knowing about what Nicolas and it had talked about, which had had plenty of information about Yakko's past that even he was likely not aware of.
So what was its angle? What did it want? It'd said it didn't want to hurt Yakko, but then why was it hiding all this information from him? Why was it making sure that Nicolas and his group didn't come near them?
"I'll have you know I'm a great conversational partner. Yakko thinks so."
It'd sounded so proud… and if Rose thought about it, it had seemed dangerous mostly when it had kept telling Nicolas to stay away from "them." Not it, them, including Yakko in that sentence. It'd also implied that it talked to Yakko enough for Yakko to consider it a 'great conversational partner', which could mean that they were just always able to talk.
Maybe it… was trying to protect him…?
Rose stared at Yakko for a little bit, noticing that he still looked pale as StarDust patted his head and told him he'd have to take it easy for a few days, all while Yakko sipped at his soda. He looked exhausted, wrung out, and like he needed a good night's rest… but he seemed perfectly unharmed otherwise. He'd seemed more injured by his panic attack than by the Klona taking over even.
… Rose didn't want to jump to conclusions yet, especially not about this new creature she knew nothing about, but she would try and give it the benefit of the doubt for now. She'd have to keep an even closer eye on Yakko than normal too, make sure the Klona didn't take over at times when she wasn't watching to do something sinister.
With this in mind… she decided that their best course of action for now was to leave. They'd gotten the information they'd needed out of Nicolas and had made too much of a ruckus. Athena's spies had no doubt taken note of the event and whoever the other group was had likely done the same. Speaking of, this shadow group might have just been what Yakko had been telling her about the other day…
"So you don't know who they are?"
"… Not really, no. They might be um… looking for me."
Rose sighed and kneeled in front of Yakko, putting a hand on his head. He turned his head to look at her, curious, and made a soft sound when she ruffled his hair.
"We should get back to base as soon as possible" her voice was soft as she told him that, hand still petting his hair gently "Do you think you can make it back or do you need more time?"
"I'm… okay" was Yakko's response, but he rubbed a hand over his eyes and blinked them quickly as if still slightly out of it. He also glanced to the side where he'd chucked and grimaced "Uh… I might need just a few more minutes, but honestly I'd rather just… get back to bed. I need some sleep."
That, she could absolutely agree with.
"Okay" she sat down next to him, her hand going down to pat at his shoulder before she made herself comfortable "Then we'll wait here for a little more."
Marilyn and StarDust got the picture, nodding and sitting down in front of them. Nicolas however, still looked shaken up and seemed like the last thing he wanted to do was stay there.
"I'm uh… just gonna. Get back to work" hands still somewhat shaky, Nicolas looked at an oncoming train. Luckily for him, it didn't look to be too far away. He would be able to escape quickly enough "You all be careful, alright? I'll keep you informed about anything new I learn."
"Please do" was all Rose said before her focus was back on Yakko, making herself comfortable against the stone wall.
"So…" Marilyn started, biting her lip, clearly trying to find something to lighten the mood "… Anyone wanna play I spy?"
Despite everyone's deadpan looks, that was exactly what they ended up playing while they waited for Yakko to feel a little better. Rose did, however, pause in the game when the train got to the station.
She stared as Nicolas got on, took one last look at Yakko, and went inside the train. And just like that, she returned to the game, listening to the noises of the train moving forward and away from their little area.
Nicolas was a lucky bastard for just having to deal with this situation for an hour and a half, but Rose would have to figure things out. She was in for the long run.
Warnings: Yakko has a panic attack and vomits at one point. He also feels dizzy and has other symptoms of a panic attack/anxiety. If any of that could trigger you, please be careful. Aside from that, there isn't anything else that I think needs to be warned about, aside from maybe minor threats of injury, but honestly that's the least thing one needs to worry about with this story.