Mayhem of Darkness: The Rewrite || A Find the Markers Fanfic

Chapter 2: Petals of Information

As you stared at Foliage, they didn't seem to notice you. It was only when you took a step towards them they turned around. Their turquoise body and darker cap shone with the lighting; their pale blue-green markings and leaf crown slightly luminescent.

    Foliage let out a light chuckle, sounding somewhat relieved. "I can't believe someone found me..." they muttered.

    "Hold up," you said. "How long have you been here for?" You saw their collection badge swirl around in your vision; body a pale green with a dark turquoise trim, and ribbons colored with a lighter aqua.

    "Uh..." Foliage whispered to themself for a while. "About a year, give or take."

    "Dang," you exclaimed. "How'd you even get up here?"

    "It's... kind of a long story," they replied. "To sum it up, I'm... not from this universe."

    "Not from this universe?" you repeated. "Then where are you from?"

    "I'm from what you call 'the present' — I used to live in the great forest."

    Do they mean the Forest biome back at the Mainland? "So how'd you get here, then?"

    "I found a time traveler's secrets... They noticed, then took me here, stranding me in this place."

    The mention of a "time traveler" piqued your interest. "Who is this... 'time traveler?'" you asked.

    "They go the name 'Dark Markery,'" Foliage explained. "I overheard them talking to themself about some plans to replace Purple Marker — something like that."

    Replacing Purple Marker? you repeated to yourself. Why would anyone try to be such a thing? "Can you tell me everything you know?"

    "Gosh, you're asking me a lot of questions..." Foliage said. "All right, I guess."

    "When you found this Markery dude, what exactly did you find?"

    "They had this weird purple machine, enabling them to time travel," Foliage described. "It had a keyboard on it, with a password only Markery knew."

    "All right..." You made a mental note about that machine thingy. What's up with that weird door at Spawn?"

    "I'm not exactly sure what a 'spawn' is," Foliage began, "but I can assume you mean the rusted door near Purple Marker?"

    You nodded. "Yeah, what's with that?"

    "I don't know what it's being used for now, but it used to be Dark Markery's base operations," Foliage answered. "And... something else before that." You noticed that their tone took a slight melancholic turn.

    "Hm... How do I get in?" you followed up. "Last time I checked, the door was closed shut."

    "There's a hidden safe somewhere in Candyland. Enter the code 3882 into it; it should give you a crowbar that allows you to break the door open."

    "Hidden safe in Candyland, code is 3882... All right, I got it," you said. "Anything else I need to know?"

    "Chainsaws. Lots of chainsaws."

    Excuse me? Did I just hear them right? "Did you say—"

    "Yes. I said it."

    "I— Okay," you exclaimed, exhaling. "Thanks for telling me all of this, you know? Helps me out a lot."

    "You're welcome," Foliage replied. "If you plan to try and go after them, be careful and good luck." They smiled.

    "Highly appreciated!" You jumped down from the peak of Dragon Hill, ultimately killing yourself and respawning where the checkpoint was set.

    Walking to the portal to take you back to the Mainland, you found yourself with another goal. Although collecting Foliage Marker was your initial objective, your newfound information lit a light inside your soul — one that wasn't there before.

    Were you going to do something high-risk and dangerous? Yes. Would it get you killed? Possibly, but you didn't hope for that.

    All right, Dark Markery. I'm coming for you.

•————————————————————•

After the encounter with Y/N, it really got Foliage thinking about the events that led them to this point.

    "You used to be a good person, Markery..." they mumbled to no one in particular. A small part of Foliage was hoping the time traveler could hear them. "You used to be an even greater friend, too... What happened?"

    They sighed, looking up at the cloudy gray sky their present — which are other's past — dimension had. Thanks to Dark, they knew it was never going to change. Their world was a simulation. Little bits and fragments of code made by a higher being. But its inhabitants weren't, however. Most were clueless about the program their universe was — Foliage used to be, until Markery told them.

    ...Even thinking of Dark made Foliage's heart sink. What had gone wrong? One day, the three of them were joking around as a group of friends; the next...

    Foliage sighed. They wished the collector could go change Dark Markery's mind. They hoped that Dark Markery could go back to the friend they once were. They dreamed of a new beginning, where they made up, and were friends once more.

    But there was a low chance of that. Whatever happened to alter the Marker they once knew... it must have been something big. Still, there was a part of Foliage that longed for the faded memories of the past.

    Why did he even have to change his name, anyway? Was it all part of a setup Foliage was just left to find out? When Markery stranded Foliage in this dimension as a "punishment," Foliage had begged them to stop; to think things through. They had said his name — their true name, not the cover he uses now — as a reminder for who Foliage was. And his reply was:

    "I'm not that Marker anymore, Foliage. You, of all Markers, should know that."

    "Please, come to your senses! You know this isn't the right thing!"

    The time traveler had chuckled. "Well, Markers change, Foliage."

    Foliage closed their eyes, exhaling a shaky breath. That was a painful thing to remember.

    Their opinion of Markery fluctuated over time. Sometimes they hated him; sometimes they longed for their presence; sometimes they wanted to forget him entirely.

    They wanted that to change.

Word Count: 984