All My Favorite Monsters

Left Behind

[Addie]

"Creator."

I heard a cold, emotionless voice I knew all too well. Everyone ceased to speak. I turned around, my eyes meeting that of my own persona in front of me. Inferno's gaze landed frigidly on me, no passion behind them. It hurt me to see her like this, under someone else's bidding doing what I knew she didn't want to do (ironic, considering she, herself, had a host that she controlled). I bit my lip, turning fully to face her.

"Yeah?" I said.

Her expression didn't change. "Crescent wants to see you."

I turned around, looking at the characters present. I noticed Prismarine absent now, though it felt like he was still there. He must be invisible or something, I thought. Smart. I didn't exactly remember Prismarine's powers, but even if I did, Crescent apparently could have given him more.

"O-okay," I replied, turning around and walking towards her. Behind my back I sent Harm a thumbs-up: the plan was still on. I stopped at the barrier, and Inferno wrapped a tentacle around my wrist to drag me through and pull me along through the dark void. The black sludge of the tentacle stained the sleeve of my hoodie black.

I mostly stared at the ground or watched her maroon tail oscillating back and forth the whole way, going over what I would do in my head. We didn't expect Crescent to take me from the cell, but it did help the plan move forward. Hopefully Prismarine can do his part successfully.

A few minutes passed, and Inferno stopped me in my tracks. I looked up from the ground, expecting to see Crescent, Pastel, or Tempest standing there.

But no.

They were all there. Standing around me were all of the forgotten characters that (apparently) resided here, plus the ones Crescent pulled from the Underground. And none of them looked happy.

They stood in a sort of scattered semicircle, not quite in synchronized formation but not a big jumble of characters, either. I looked around, knowing their identities by first glance and listing them in my head.

Stellan, Hunter, Seeker, Finnley, Commander, Candy Addie - wait, why's she here? - Experimental Ally, Pastel, Tempest...

I stopped scanning the present characters as my eyes landed on Crescent. She had a wicked, smug grin on her face, twirling her pen nimbly between her fingers. Her blood red eyes glared at me with a hidden glee.

I huffed. "What do you want from me?"

Crescent laughed, white fangs glimmering in the dim light. "Funny you should ask. I'd guess you'd have figured that out by now."

"No, what do you want from me now? Like, why am I standing here?" I said with an eye roll.

Her mouth curled into a tight-lipped smile. She stuck her pen in her pocket, looking around until she met the eyes of Hunter. "Hunter, come here."

The large timberwolf glanced around, as if confirming she had asked for him, and uneasily stepped forwards. It was obvious by his confident strides of his status - I remembered, he was the alpha of the protagonist's original pack. The fact that he was here made me wonder if the protagonist himself, Pebble, was among the forgotten, since he would be replaced as well as Hunter and a few others in the planned rewrite with other characters. I didn't recall seeing him here, however.

Crescent looked to the alpha wolf. "Tell me. Why are you here?"

I didn't expect him to verbally answer, considering he was... well, an animal. But I suddenly heard a male voice in my mind - not how I'd imagine Hunter's, but familiar. Prismarine.