Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rain pounded against the moon-themed animatronics’ metal body. But he gave no reaction to it. Paid no attention to it. Instead, his attention was directed at something else. Something…darker.

He wandered around the empty forest, clearly in search of something. A compass on his arm-computer thingy guided him through the unknown territory, until he stood at the cliff of a deep valley. He could’ve fallen if he had not known exactly where he was going. As if he’d been here once or twice before. He turned sharply down a narrow path leading just above the steep valley. His arm beeped and beeped louder as he continued on.

“Almost there,” He grunted in a raspy voice. “Then you’ll be rebuilt. You’ll be alive again.”

He followed the steep trail to a line of stones enrooted to the ground, surrounding a tall giant oak tree, dead at its ends and split nearly in half, as if lightning had splintered through it at one point. The moon-themed animatronic halted at the base of the giant oak, staring up at its endless stream of dead and crippled branches.

“So, this is where he hid the magic.” He wheezed. “God! Old me was stupider than I thought! He didn’t even bother disguising the magic trail! He practically led me to it!” He laughed, stepping a foot closer to the oak. “Now let’s see what all I can do with this newfound power…”

He placed his hand against the bark and closed his eyes, taking a raspy breath. Suddenly, an energy pulsed and shocked through his systems, making him throw his head back in a silent scream. All his energy was draining and being replaced with something more. All his emotions wiped and replaced with power. All he could think about was revenge and bringing back what he lost. What he took.

He felt his body seize with unimaginable power: strength and magic. His body could barely handle this much, but he was determined to withstand it all. He needed it to bring him back. His mind went blank, black as the void. His head was thrown back once more, mouth agape. Memories he hadn’t seen before surged through him. A shard holding power even more unimaginable than this. Lit purple and filled with more power than the star. Oh, what he could do with this much power. Not only could he bring back what he needed (who he needed), he could also rebuild everything. Destroy all who had wronged him. Destruct all that stood in his way.

The memories (or flashes of information) showed him more than one shard. There was multiple. But he couldn’t find the name of them, no matter how hard he looked. Then, at the end of the surge of memories, he saw a silhouette. It looked like Sun. His dear brother. The reason he was like this… What did he have to do with this power?

“Maybe he knows more than I give him credit for…” He rasped, moving his shaking hand from the now-withering tree. He turned his back to it and stalked off; towards a portal he laid. “I’ll get you back. And once I do, I’ll make everyone pay.”

Chapter Text

Moon was explaining to Sun some random things that’s happened. Nothing major, just little incidents. Karen at a store for one. Interaction with KS for another.

Sun was busy, half listening, half making dinner. Dazzle had requested chicken tenders for dinner, along with Jack asking for the side of Mac n Cheese. Sun couldn’t say no when they gave him the puppy eyes. Especially his daughter. So he complied and ran by the store to drag the supplies to make that.

“Ow! Shit!” Sun shouted after splashing some water from the pot onto himself. He didn’t really have pain sensors. Not like humans did at least. But he still felt the pain.

Moon, after checking to make sure he was alright, laughed. “Watch yourself, the children might hear you!”

Sun whacked him on the back of head with the spoon he used to stir the pasta. Moon yelped. Sun went back to stirring in the pasta and waiting for it to finish cooking, along with waiting for the oven to beep for the tenders.

“So…how’s Dazzle been?” Moon asked, trying to start up small talk. It was obvious he was horrible at socializing. Especially with starting and maintaining conversations. He opened up the fridge while awaiting Sun’s answer and grabbed out some lunch meat.

Sun hummed and stirred the pasta some more before pulling one out and testing it. “She’s been alright. Wary around Jack and still refusing to interact with him much but slowly getting better.” He explained.

Moon slapped the lunch meat between two pieces of bread and made a sandwich. “I’m sure Jack isn’t taking that too well?”

“You can imagine.” Sun mumbled, picking up the pot of pasta and pouring the water out, using the strainer to catch the noodles. As he was putting the pot back on the stove, he caught a glimpse of something out the window. Someone. They stared back at him, but he couldn’t make out who they were before they disappeared in the blink of an eye.

‘It’s Probably just my imagination’ Sun thought.

Moon, through a mouthful of food, asked, “You okay?”

Sun opened his mouth to answer, then realized something. “Are you seriously eating while watching me make dinner?” he slowly turned to Moon who froze and hid the remains of his sandwich behind his back, as if he wasn’t doing exactly what Sun accused him of.

“Uhhhh—noooo??” He said through the same mouthful of food.

Sun and Moon began their bickering for the hundredth time that day. Sun completely forgetting about the food cooking. That is until Solar entered the kitchen and yelled at them both to stop.

“You two can go at it outside when Jack and Dazzle aren’t listening and the food isn’t cooking!” He lectured, making them both stop and freeze. He gestured to the stove and pulled Moon out of the kitchen so Sun could continue in peace.

Sun, after chuckling to himself, went back to cooking. He stirred in the cheese and milk and other ingredients into the pasta and opened the oven to check on the tenders. And after pulling them out of the oven and standing back up, he caught a glimpse of the same person outside the window. He slowly placed the tray of chicken on the counter before shutting the oven and making his way to the window to get a closer look at the person.

Unlike last time, they didn’t move. They didn’t disappear. They stood long enough for Sun to recognize who they were. Who he was.

Sun widened his eyes and froze. There, standing a couple feet from the window, stood his ex-brother. Nexus.

He took a few cautious steps back, eyes still glued to the Moon-themed animatronic. This couldn’t be real. Could it? No. He’s dead. He was blown up. Sun killed him himself. He watched it happen. He couldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be here.

Sun backed up until he leaned against the counter, trembling from both shock and fear. Nexus’s gaze didn’t once leave him. He didn’t once blink. Just stared with his piercing-red pupils.

“Sun?”

He gasped.

“Sun!”

Visibly shaking.

“SUN!?”

Sun snapped out of his fear-induced haze and turned his attention to his brother Moon, who was standing beside him, worry etched on his face. Sun went to look back outside, in search of Nexus. But when he looked, he wasn’t there. He was gone.

“Sun! What the hell happened?!” Moon shouted. Sun only just noticed the grip Moon had on his shoulders, keeping him grounded. He looked over Moon’s shoulder and saw Solar watching him with concern. The tv was going, playing some sort of children cartoon. So, Sun was sure Dazzle and/or Jack was sitting on the couch, watching it.

Sun shuddered, catching his breath before looking out the window once more, in hopes of seeing Nexus standing there again. In hopes of him not being crazy. “I…I…” No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get the words out.

Moon shushed him and rubbed his back, obviously sensing his distress and trying his best to comfort him. Even if he was awkward and unsure how to do so. He was trying. Sun appreciated it nonetheless. “Did you see something? Did you hurt yourself? You don’t have to speak, just shake or nod your head, okay?”

Sun nodded.

“Yes okay, or yes to one of the options?”

Sun held up a finger.

“Option one?”

Nod.

“Okay…so you saw something…was it a person?”

Nod.

“Alright…someone you know?”

Another nod.

Moon nodded, thinking carefully before naming off more things. “Was it Bloodmoon?”

Sun shook his head.

“Worse?”

Shrug.

“Okay…” Moon paused to think. But he couldn’t speak before Solar interrupted.

“Hey. Everything alright over here?” He asked, concern still etched on his face, but mixed with a new sense of authority. Like he was the only one here to be adult like or something. It makes sense, Sun at least thought.

Moon nodded softly. “Yeah, apparently Sun saw someone and now he’s sent himself into a non-verbal panic attack. Or start of one.” Moon sucked at explaining things.

Solar nodded, shooting Sun a look of slight sympathy before looking towards the stove. He noticed the unfinished pasta. “I can finish the food for you if you’d like?” He offered. Sun nodded and Solar nodded in return, walking over to the unfinished pasta and stirring in the remaining ingredients.

Moon cleared his throat before continuing to list things down. “Creator?”

Sun shook his head.

“KS? Dark Sun? Uhhhhh Eclipse?”

He kept shaking his head, internally screaming at his brother for naming such far out people and not the obvious choice.

“Was it Nexus?” It was Solar who asked that.

Sun nodded slowly, earning a soft gasp from Moon.

“Did he…did he do anything? Any hand movements? Mouth movements, like he was talking?” Moon asked.

Sun shook his head.

“I don’t assume him to do so.” Solar said aloud, serving two plates of food for, Sun assumed to be, Jack and Dazzle. “Nexus was always smart. Not usually the type to give himself away. But I’m not surprised he targeted Sun. He knows your weaknesses.” He took the plates and headed out to give them to the kids before coming back and leaning against the frame.

Moon sighed, awkwardly rubbing his brother’s shoulder. Sun took the comfort, even if Moon didn’t know how to give it.

“I’m…not sure…what to think of it, honestly…” Sun mumbled. “I-I just took the tenders out of the oven and saw him…he didn’t go away when I blinked…he looked so real…”

Solar sighed and crossed his arms. “Well, I doubt it was real.” He said, earning a small glare from Sun. “Not saying you’re crazy or anything! Just saying you might be…a little…”

“Crazy?” Sun retorted.

Moon sighed. “Under slept. You don’t sleep Sun. You haven’t slept well or rested like at all since you killed Nexus. And that was…how many months ago?” He looked up at Solar.

“Like…7? Maybe more than that? It’s been a while.” Solar said.

Sun sighed. “Maybe you guys are right…maybe I just…imagined it…”

Moon patted his shoulder and stood up, holding out a hand to help Sun up as well. Sun took it and stood up, still shaking from the shock. “I don’t think you’re crazy or insane or any of that whatsoever.” He explained. “But I do think you need some rest and a break. So why don’t you grab a plate of food and head up to bed? I’ll watch over Dazzle until you rest.”

“You don’t…need to do that…”

“I don’t. But I will. And that’s an order Sun.” He said firmly, gesturing to the food. “Make yourself a plate and head upstairs.” Moon ordered.

Sun sighed and, instead of protesting, nodded and complied, heading over to the food and starting to make himself a plate.

maybe it was all my imagination…all in my head…maybe I do need to catch up on sleep…

He sighed.

Might as well try…

Chapter Text

Collapsing onto the recently made bed and curling up in the covers, Sun tried his hardest to get comfortable and relax. He had just finished his plate of food (as Moon had insisted he did) and was trying to relax and forget all that was happening. Everything about KS. About Nexus. Everything.

The lights were off, but the lamp beside Sun’s bed stayed on. He didn’t like the dark. Hated it actually. He felt…alone when in it. Useless. Weak. Not that he didn’t feel that way regardless.

He pulled the comforter up to his chest, closing his eyes and trying to unreel from earlier. Moon and Solar were right. He must’ve been hallucinating it all. There’s no way Nexus is still alive. Sun killed him himself, fireball to the chest.

…but what if that wasn’t enough?

Sun shook the thought from his head. If he kept thinking like that, there’s no way he’d relax enough to sleep.

He tried to block any thought from entering his head and just shut his eyes and tried his hardest to sleep. It was hard for him. He wasn’t tired. But at the same time, he was. It was hard to explain…

After a while of just lying with his eyes closed, he finally felt the sweet escape of sleep washing over him. But before it fully enveloped him, he heard a noise. A thud. Like the stomp of a foot. Normally Sun would’ve brushed it off and blamed it on his brother. But Moon said he’d be watching Dazzle while he slept. So there’s no way it was him. And none of the others ever came up to see him.

He waiting a moment before hesitantly opening his eyes and looking around. He was being super cautious. There’s no way it could be anything bad…right? Maybe it was his cats!

He sat up slowly and carefully, trying not to make any sudden jerking movements. If it was his cats (like he thought it was) he didn’t want to startle them.

He yawned and looked towards the bathroom, freezing abruptly. There, in the doorframe, was the one he dreaded the most. The one he had prayed was just his eyes playing a trick on him. But it was so real…there’s no way this could’ve happened twice, right? Especially in the same day.

Nexus stared through him with piercing-red eyes. He made no sudden movements, but stayed in the doorframe, staring with a grin full of dark, cold, evil.

Sun exhaled shakily before attempting to back farther into his bed, hoping it’d shield him from the so-called hallucination. It didn’t feel like one though. “N-Nexus…?” He hesitantly called.

Nothing.

“Wh-what’re you doing here?”

Nothing.

Sun let out another shaky breath before shutting his eyes. “You’re just in my head…this isn’t real…none of this is real…”

“Oh, but it is, Sunny.”

Sun’s eyes flew wide in shock and horror. He stared down Nexus who had moved slightly closer since he looked at him last. “Wh-what…?”

“This is very real, Sunny. I’m very real.” Nexus rasped out through his toothy grin. Sun felt his body freeze. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. All he could do was stare and hope this was all some bad dream.

Nexus, unfortunately, started walking closer. He approached the side of Sun’s bed, hovering over him. “How have you been, brother? You know…after you killed me.” His voice carried a growl. “I’m sure you’re living the best life right now with the life you took from me.

“How’s the original treating you? Is he better? Has he always been better? Have I always just been a side piece until you got him back?”

“Wh-what? No! I—“

“Lier.” Nexus growled, leaning down to face him. “I bet you don’t regret taking my life from me.”

Sun felt tears building up in his vision, making it harder to see. Oh, how he missed Nexus. He loved him, never stopped loving him. But he knew deep down it was best to forget him. He was evil. He tried to kill so many. He tried to kill him.

Sun sighed. “I do miss you, I admit to it…I love you, I still do…but I also know you weren’t good, and you had to die…I have to accept that…” he mumbled.

“You killed me.” Nexus hissed. “You have my blood on your hands. My life at your fingertips. You killed me without hesitation!”

“I hesitated, believe me, I did.” Sun said shakily. “I didn’t want to kill you, Moon—“

“I’M NOT MOON!?” Nexus shouted, his raspy growl making Sun cower. “You always compared me to him. Was I never good enough for you? He was always the perfect Moon, wasn’t he? Even when he was dead!”

“That’s…that’s not true and you know it!”

“Oh, but it is.” Nexus stood tall. “And that’ll never change. You can try to move on. Try to forget. But I’ll never let you.” He raised a clawed hand. “I want revenge,” Sun’s eyes widened. “And I know the perfect way to get it~”

Just as he brought his hand down to strike him, Sun screamed and the lights turned on. It went silent. Sun prepared himself for the pain of Nexus’s claws meeting his face, but it never came.

“Sun?” It was Moon. “Sun! Are you okay?” Moon sat on the bed, not far from him.

Sun took a moment before hesitantly opening his eyes. He made eye contact with Moon, tears still falling. “M-Moon?”

“Yes, Sun…I’m here.” Moon scooted closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “What happened? I heard you yelling.”

Sun opened his mouth to speak. To try to explain. To try to say anything. But all that came out was a small, choked sob. Moon’s eyes widened as he watched Sun break down beside him. He didn’t know what to do or how to help this situation. He didn’t even know why Sun was crying.

Moon scooted closer and wrapped both his arms around Sun, pulling him against his chest. He rubbed his back and shushed him as gently as he could. “Shhh…it’s okay…I’m sure it was just a nightmare…”

But Sun immediately shook his head.

Moon raised a brow. “No? No to what?”

“I-it wasn’t a nightmare…” Sun forced out. “I-I…”

“Hey…hey…” Moon cooed gently. “Take your time…calm down first. What matters right now is making sure you’re okay.” He continued to rub Sun’s back as his brother continued to sob, gripping onto Moon like a lifeline. Trembling from head to toe. Terrified.

After what felt like forever, Sun finally calmed himself down to only small sniffles. He took a shaky breath and Moon decided to start questioning again.

“What did you see?” He asked.

Sun didn’t sit up, he kept close to his brother, still gripping onto him. It was unusual of him to do. He wasn’t the type to cling to people. He never did before. He took another shaky breath before trying to explain. “I…I saw…him…”

“Who…” Moon paused, remembering earlier. “…Nexus?”

Sun nodded confirmation.

Moon sighed. Of course it was him. It could’ve been anyone else and Sun would’ve probably been at least more stable. Moon knew Sun still wasn’t over Nexus. To be honest, he wasn’t even fully sure Solar was. But he, as well as Solar and he thinks Sun, knew it was for the greater good.

“Where was he?”

“B-bathroom…” Sun shakily pointed to the bathroom door. “H-he was standing in the doorway…”

“Did he say anything?” Moon questioned, causing Sun to tense up.

“I-I…”

Moon realized it was something at least a little bad for it to be causing Sun to almost break down again. He stopped him and rubbed his back some more. “Hey…you don’t need to tell me now…it can wait until you’re ready…”

Sun nodded slowly, leaning against his brother.

“How about you sleep in my room with me for the night? It’ll make you feel better not being alone.” Moon suggested. Sun liked the idea and agreed it’d likely help. So, Moon helped Sun up and they both headed to his room.

…

I’ll get my revenge…

Chapter Text

The next morning, Sun woke up later than usual. It was around 12:00PM. He was normally an early bird, first awake even. But today he definitely wasn’t. Moon though, was still snoring beside him. He always slept in until his alarm or someone else woke him.

Sun sat up with a small groan, stretching his arms above his head. He looked around and took in his surroundings, but there wasn’t much to take in. Moon’s room was dark, blocking the sun out with blackout curtains. It was also a lot colder than Sun’s room. He wasn’t sure he liked it.

He stood up off the bed and headed to the door, but not before a voice halted him.

“Sun?” It was Moon. Sun turned to see him sitting and groggily rubbing his eyes. “Where are you going?”

“Just…downstairs. I need to make food for Dazzle…” he mumbled, just loud enough for Moon to hear.

Moon sighed and nodded, groaning softly as he stood up and stretched.

“What’re you doing?” Sun asked.

Moon turned to him. “Coming with.”

“You can sleep in, I can watch over myself…”

“Yes, I’ve no doubt you can.” Moon approached the door, standing beside Sun. “But I’d prefer to be there in case you see him again.” He explained.

Sun knew he was referring to his “hallucinations” of Nexus. He’d been having them for the past day or two. He couldn’t remember how long it’d been… he was still recovering from the last one.

He pushed his thoughts aside and nodded, opening the door and leaving the room with Moon behind him. He walked down the stairs and to the kitchen where Solar was shockingly preparing food. Sun stopped in his tracks. “What’re you doing?”

Solar turned to see Sun, then went back to stirring the Mac n Cheese. “Making lunch, what else would I be doing?”

“You never cook…” Sun countered.

“Yeah, and you never sleep until 12.” He pointed out, causing Sun to stiffen. He sighed. “I was making lunch for Dazzle since I wasn’t sure when you’d be up and she was hungry. So was Jack.” He explained.

Sun took a moment before nodded. “Thanks for making her something…I was coming down to do it, but I appreciate it.” Solar nodded. “How’s um…how’s Jack been?”

“Bad,” Solar bluntly said. “But he’ll be fine.” What else could you expect? Jack had been Dazzle’s best friend for since they’ve met. And now she refused to even be in the same room as him because of something he had no control over. She was just a kid, and children think of situations differently than adults, so they had to remember that. But Solar was still visibly pissed at Dazzle’s ignorance of Jack.

Sun nodded and watched as Solar made two bowls, presumably for Jack and Dazzle. “I’ll be back, make yourself a bowl. You need to eat. You too Moon.” He grabbed the bowls and headed upstairs.

Sun leaned against the kitchen counter, sighing. Why was he so irritated? He should be happy Solar was taking care of Dazzle for him! But he wasn’t and he didn’t know fully why.

Moon noticed Sun’s suddenly irritation. “What’s on your mind?” He asked as softly as he could. Sun only shook his head. Moon sighed and crossed his arms. “Is it Dazzle?”

“It’s nothing…” Sun managed to mutter under his breath, just loud enough for Moon to barely hear. He opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it. Sun was going through his own things, he had every right to be irritated. Even if the reasoning was petty.

Solar’s boots clanked against the wooden stairs as he made his way back down to the kitchen. He stopped at the doorway, leaning against it. “Okay, so what’s happened?” He asked bluntly, catching Sun off guard.

Moon was the one to respond. “He saw him again last night.”

“Nexus?”

“Who else?” Moon said sarcastically, earning a glare from Solar. He rolled his eyes. “But yeah, I heard him scream and ran to check on him, seeing him not in the best shape. So I took him to my room so he didn’t have to sleep alone.” He explained.

Solar nodded slowly before turning to look towards Sun. “Yeah, I heard him scream last night, but I wasn’t sure what from. I contemplated going to check, but with how loud it was I assumed you had heard it, so I figured you had it handled.” Moon nodded. Solar sighed. “Okay…so what’s happened do we think is causing this? This has to of been recent?” He look at Sun for confirmation.

Sun nodded.

“Okay, has anything, other than the whole creator thing, happened that would’ve caused this?” He questioned. Sun only shrugged, causing Solar to sigh softly. “Okay…that gives me such good ideas…”

“Could it be similar to Bloodmoon?” Moon asked, earning a glare from Solar. “What? I’m serious! Sun has hallucinations after he killed him! He could be having the same with Nexus!”

Solar thought, keeping a hand on his hip while the other sat against his mouth in thought. “Could be…” he muttered. “It feels near impossible to be anything else…”

Moon nodded in agreement before turning his attention to Sun. “What do you think?”

Sun shrugged. “I guess…it could be…” he murmured. “It makes sense I suppose…” Moon nodded.

“Alright then,” Solar said, pushing himself off the frame. “Then we’ll just have to try helping you move on. That’s how you got rid with Bloodmoon, correct?”

Sun shakily nodded. “I kinda just…I don’t know…I don’t remember anymore… that was so long ago…this doesn’t feel like Bloodmoon’s…” he mumbled.

Moon placed a comforting hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Hey…you aren’t alone, okay? Well do this together…”

Sun nodded slowly. “O-okay…thank you…both of you…”

“Yep,” Solar headed out of the kitchen, leaving Sun and Moon alone.

“You should eat something.” Moon said, gesturing towards the pot of pasta. Sun sighed and nodded.

“You too.”

“I will, I just want a sandwich, not whatever that is.” Moon said, opening the fridge.

Sun looked at him. “Macaroni Moon!”

“My bad! I forgot the name of it!” Moon groaned.

Sun sighed and shook his head. “I swear…you’re going to make me lose it…”

“Agree to disagree?” Moon chuckled, causing Sun to also laughing slightly.

Everything felt…better… but for how long? Sun wasn’t convinced these were hallucinations. But this brothers were. And he guessed it made sense…nothing else did anyway. But he still had a bad feeling about them.

“Hallucinations until proven otherwise…” He muttered under his breath so only he could hear before making himself a bowl of food and heading to the living room to sit and watch God knows what.