Mystery skulls fanfic- A second chance

Chapter 1

"Lewis?"

Arthur's voice echoed in the cave as he said his best friend's name in shock and disbelief.

That can't be Lewis.

This has to be a mistake.

Was he dreaming?

What happ--

And suddenly he was falling. Falling, falling down....down to the spikes below. It was a longer drop then he was expecting, which gave him time to realize something.

This is the same cave Lewis disappeared in, did he die here?

Before he could question further, he met the spikes and everything went black.

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Arthur woke up with a jolt, in a soft bed. He assessed his surroundings, finding himself in his room at his Uncle Lance's house.

Oh so I was dreaming--thank god!

He let out a sigh of relief and went to go slide off of his bed. And that's when he realized something was wrong. Something was very wrong. He reached up to touch his head and instead of feeling the familiar cold metal he felt...warm flesh.

....huh?

He stared at his arms in shock. This couldn't be happening...they were both flesh and...and were really small?

He glanced back at his feet and legs, realizing those were smaller as well.

What...

He heard movement and his eyes shot in that direction, at the end of the room sat a hamster cage. But it wasn't Galahad's cage...his cage was metal and hand-built by him, no this was different. Yet oddly familiar.

He stood up on shaky legs and made his way over to the cage. He looked inside at the furry little creature and memories suddenly rushed through him.

Buddy.

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It was about 12 years ago, back when Arthur's parents first went missing.

"Arthur? You in there?" There was a knock on the door and Arthur quickly wiped his eyes to try and hide the fact that he had been crying. After 5 weeks without his parents he was starting to lose hope.

"B-Be there in a sec!" Arthur quickly rubbed at his eyes again before going to the door and opening it. Lance was on the other side and he was holding a small box.

"Hey kiddo, you okay?" Worry was clear in Lance's face as he looked down at his nephew.

"Yeah i'm fine..." Arthur replied, looking down and rubbing his arm nervously. He hated lying but he didn't want Lance to worry. He had enough to deal with right now.

Lance didn't seem convinced but let it go. " Well I found something I think you may like."

Arthur looked up in curiosity and Lance gently handed him the box he was holding.

Arthur opened the box and his eyes widened in surprise at the small animal inside.

"It's a hamster!"

His eyes sparkled in excitement as he gently picked up the little fluff ball. Hamsters were always his favorite animal, he didn't know why but something about them always made him happy.

Lance chuckled at Arthur's response "I'm guessing you like him?"

"I love him!" Arthur grinned, petting the hamster gently. He looked back up at Lance.

"Can we keep him?"

Lance smiled and patted Arthur's head lightly, "Of course!" He was so glad Arthur was happy for once. He hadn't seen him like this in a while.

"How did you know I liked hamsters?"

Lance raised an eyebrow as he remembered all the posers and toys of hamsters Arthur had everywhere in his old room. "Just a lucky guess..."

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I opened up the cage and the hamster happily ran onto my open hand. His little whiskers tickled me and he found myself smiling despite the circumstances.

"Hey bud, jeez it's been a while.... I missed you."

The hamster tilted his head in confusion which made Arthur laugh slightly.

"Yeah, I have no idea why i'm back here either." He pet Buddy once more before putting him back. The hamster squeaked in protest as Arthur closed the cage door.

"Sorry Buddy, I have to figure out what's going on." He walked out the door and into the hall, looking around. The old house hadn't changed much besides some of the pictures on the halls missing. The pictures he had put there of him and his friends. So it was more than his body and the hamster, everything seemed to be...put back in time. He went down the stairs to the workshop and everything seemed basically unchanged.

Except Uncle Lance. He looked like a wreck.

He was hunched over a desk, filling out some paperwork. The deafening silence was broken by the sound of the pen dropping onto the desk as Lance sighed. Arthur quietly made his way over to him, putting his hand on his shoulder in concern.

"Uncle Lance?"

Lance jolted slightly in surprise and looked over his shoulder. "Oh...good morning."

Morning?

Arthur glanced at the clock on the workbench. It was in fact morning, so the time of the day had changed as well. Before all this happened it had been the afternoon.

"Morning." He definitely noticed that Lance looked younger, though if the bags under his eyes were any indication his sleeping habits haven't changed much.

Lance quickly gathered up the papers on the desk and shoved them into a drawer.

He was definitely hiding something...but what?

Arthur racked his brain through his memories to figure out if he remembered but couldn't think of anything. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Lance reaching up and patting his head. Even at this age he was a bit taller than the older man.

"You hungry?"

Arthur nodded and Lance made his way to the kitchen. Lance wasn't really that best at cooking but he tried his best.