The Stage is Set

Where are they? My siblings? pt.1

Happy holidays! Sorry for the late posting! Here we go! This is the 6th chapter from the last one for this first fic! Then it will be time to go back and re-edit everything to make sure everything flows a little better than it does now! Hope you're excited!

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Blue heaves for breath as he looks down at what used to be Ink. He wants to dig for him. Dig until his hands bleed. It's nothing he hasn't done before. It isn't anything new to him. Yet it is! He doesn't understand. His mind runs and thoughts liquidate over each other as he sits. He slowly returns to himself as he feels Dream hug him from behind. He knows that can't be comfortable. Those precious wings he now has must be bent in uncomfortable positions with how they sit. Someone calls his name, but it sounds so far away. The voice is dripping with static, pouring into his skull like a cold fuzz. Slowly, he follows the voice up as it sharpens. He finally focuses on Lust kneeling in front of him. Lust's voice is lost in the static that fogs his mind, and he's barely able to make out the sound. Yet he clings to it as a lifeline. Where is his Maman? He shakes and cries. He lost Maman again. He mourns. He grieves. He's lost Maman again. Oh, where is his Dame? He's lost his beloved creator again. He's lost and he can't seem to find his way back. Where is his way back? Where is his mom? Where is Dream? Where are his siblings?

He wants Jiejie.

He wants Jiejie to hold him.

He wants her to hold him again. Hold him against her chest and rock him. He wants her to cradle him in her arms and tell him it will all be okay; like she did when he found himself in the In-Between. He found himself alone and sitting in his coffin, wanting Maman to come back for him. How he cried in her arms as she came and scooped him out of his coffin. It was so lonely, so cold despite the torches lining the walls; she had called him her blessing, her first sibling, her younger brother. He was later called Gege by the others and by his Jiejie too. He is the eldest son, but sometimes he still feels so young compared to his Jiejie. It's like he's back there again. Back in that glass coffin. So cold and alone. He can hear the fire crackling and feel the pulse of that star that floats innocently above him; he can feel the loneliness stabbing his very core. He's so cold and alone. All he can do is cry for his Maman. He wants his Maman so badly. He wants his beloved Maman to come back, pull him out of this coffin, cradle him close to his soul, and replace that coldness with warmth.

He wants Jiejie too.

Dream gently bumps against Blue, slowly rocking him from side to side. It's a slow rock, trying to ease Blue out of his mind and back to the present. He hums quietly to Blue as Lust rubs his knuckles. Lust gently eases Blue's grip. Slowly working that grip from a stressful one to one of familiarity. It's something he's done many times before for his friends. The two of them stay like that for a bit. Letting Blue lose himself to his mind but not enough to let him spiral again. They become his anchor like he's done for them. They give him time to process, feel, and let go. Blue curls inward, but Dream doesn't let him bow to the floor. Dream gathers him, Lust helping him move to a more comfortable position, and holds him close. Dream's lower wings curl around Blue's sides; keeping him warm.

Yet it does nothing to chip at the numbness in his soul.

Lust nods at Dream's silent question. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a water bottle and bandages. He helps Dream move Blue again into another position; one where Lust can work on Blue's cracked phalanges. Lust slowly bandages Blue's fingers, pressing a kiss to each one as he does so—something all Star Sanses has picked up from Ink. Dream presses kisses to Blue's temple between murmurs of comfort.