Falling Forever [Sequel to Sacred Souls]

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• oh boy. Here we go. The sequel. Holy son of a guacamole-loving biscuit, if you went back to when I just started Sacred Souls and told me that I'd be writing a SEQUEL in three or four months I wouldn't have believed you lol. Ah well. I like to think that FF will be better than SS. (Yes, the alliteration is deliberate. Hey, this is the third book I have with alliteration. Sacred Souls, Falling Forever, and my Bill Cipher x Reader, Dream Demon.) I'm just stalling now. Well, I hope you can somehow enjoy this cringefest....also, sorry for the delay! I was super unmotivated... •

Subcon Forest is beautiful. When Vanessa died and the snow melted, it became brighter, the swamp seemed less sludgy and the vibe was just better in general.

On the particular day our story begins, Y/N L/N is sitting next to two of her best friends on a tall tree house in Subcon Village. Hat Kid, the small, giggling kid in the purple hat, and Mustache Girl, the other kid with the red hood and blonde mustache, as her name suggests, are chatting animatedly while Y/N sits next to them. She listens to their excited chatter and contemplates the events of the past month.

It all started when her ship crashed in Subcon Forest, home to the Subconites, the snake-like dwellers, and a handful of ghosts - Moonjumper, who had been chained to the Horizon until Snatcher, the soul-snatching noodle ghost had released him (albeit reluctantly), and Moonjumper's other half. Then there was Vanessa, who was thankfully dead, Snatcher's and Moonjumper's jealous ex.
The chain of events which led to Vanessa's death was quite complicated. Y/N had stepped into a trap where she met Snatcher, who immediately gave her a contract. Not long after, Snatcher began questioning his sanity, or whether he really felt that way about Y/N?

Then Hat Kid got kidnapped by Vanessa. Y/N went to rescue her, and ended up replacing Hat Kid as Vanessa's prisoner. Snatcher and Hat Kid went to rescue her and they succeeded. They also attempted to kill Vanessa by blowing up her Manor, but failed.

Unfortunately for Snatcher, just as he came to terms with his "crush", Y/N left. Snatcher was obviously crushed, and meanwhile Vanessa was alive and not very well in the Horizon. Moonjumper had watched the rescue and managed to save Vanessa by pulling her into the Horizon at the last second.

Fortunately for Snatcher, Y/N realized that she liked Snatcher in that way, too, and she came back and confessed! Snatcher and Y/N got together, which led to Vanessa being angry. Moonjumper and Vanessa set their plan into motion and Moonjumper used his puppet string magic to literally brainwash the whole forest. Thanks to some time-stop hat use, our heroes managed to get to Moonjumper's clearing - the one place with enough moonlight for Moonjumper to leave the Horizon - and managed to convince Moonjumper of Vanessa's true nature. Moonjumper then joined them and helped them rid Subcon of Vanessa's icy terror once and for all.

It's weird, Y/N thinks, If I'd never lost control of my ship, I might be far away from here. I never would've signed that first contract....

Suddenly Y/N is torn from her thoughts when Hat Kid tugs on her sleeve.

"Look! Over there!" She points to the edge of the village, where the Subconites are clustering together.

"What's going on?" Y/N asks.

"I don't know! Come on, Mustache Girl's already over there!" Hat Kid says, jumping down from the tree and landing gracefully on her feet. Y/N follows suit, but lands unceremoniously on her front.  

"Come on!" Hat Kid pulls her up and drags Y/N over to the crowd of Subconites.

Y/N pulls her hand out of Hat Kid's iron grip and pushes her way to the centre of the group. An extremely pale girl is standing there, clutching a contract with a calm, yet panicked expression on her face. Like she's terrified but hiding it. Y/N turns to the Subconites.

"Guys. Leave her alone, she's terrified!"

The Subconites disperse, mumbling. Y/N turns back to the girl, who seems calmer.

"What's your name?" Y/N asks gently. The girl stares at her, and opens her mouth, but says nothing.

"Can you talk?" The girls shakes her head, her jet black hair rippling. (Wha- why did I say it like that? How else can I say it tho?)

The girl takes out a small notepad and pen. She scribbles something down and shows Y/N the paper.

"Tempest," Y/N reads. "Is that your name?" The girl - Tempest - nods.

"How did you get here?" Y/N asks. Tempest scribbles something else on the notepad and shows Y/N a drawing.

It shows a house with a shouting person, and a crying girl (presumably Tempest) moving towards a few trees.

"So...you left home? Were your parents....abusive?"

Tempest shoves the notepad and pen back in her pocket and stares at the ground.

"Oh....was that the wrong thing to say? Sorry..."

Tempest looks back up and Y/N notices the black swirls slowly creeping up Tempest's face and hands. A turquoise streak is appearing in her hair and her pupils slowly morph into hearts.

"Hey girl, open your walls, play with your dolls..."

Tempest starts to sing quietly.

"We'll be a perfect family...when you walk away, is when we really play...you don't hear me when I say: 'Mom! Please wake up. Dad's with a slut...and your son is smoking cannabis.'"

Tempest turns away.

"No one ever listens, this wallpaper glistens. Nobody sees what goes down in the kitchen!"

She turns back, tears streaking down her face.

"Places, places, get in your places, throw on your dress and put on your doll faces, everyone thinks that we're perfect.... please don't let them look through the curtains....
Picture, picture, smile for the picture, pose with your brother, won't you be a good sister? Everything thinks that we're perfect, please don't let them look through the curtains!
D-O-L-L-H-O-U-S-E, I see things that nobody else sees..."

Tempest trails off. Y/N swallows.

"Hey girl, look at my mom, she's got it going on - ha!" She scoffs. "You're blinded by her jewelry. When you turn your back, she pulls out a flask, and forgets his infidelity....uh-oh, she's coming to the attic, plastic! Go back to being plastic! No one ever listens, this wallpaper glistens, don't let them see what goes down in the kitchen...."

"I-I'm sorry...." Y/N mumbles. Tempest shrugs, wiping away her tears, the swirls and the streak fading.

• so it's done! The song is Dollhouse by Melanie Martinez. Go check it out!!
Also, I hope ya'll are pumped for the story to pick up! Updates will be slow as I'm trying to update a few other fics. Anyway, Becca out! •