Chapter Text
Large doors swung open, and almost golden light blinded X. He covered his face and whimpered, and Four grinned with pride as the light subsided. X cracked his eyes open meekly, then stared in awe. Four giggled slightly, then put their hands on their hips.
“Tah-dah!” Four cheered, watching X’s reaction. He blinked, gaping at the area. The sun shone brightly on the area, the clouds leaving the sky for the occasion.
“It’s a training arena! Yeah! For erm, now,” Four mumbled near the end, slumping slightly. X slowly trotted inside, looking around. There were gates and weapons along some of the lined areas, and numerous medical kits were on standby. X stumbled away from a few numbers, sending blasts of colors left and right. He watched as one tumbled on top of the other, grunting and whining as the other was pinned down. With the other on the ground, the number put their hands up and cheered. There were claps heard from the side of the circle, and X turned to see who was making the noises. Two sat beside a panting Y, hands colliding in the air. X brightened slightly.
“Two?” X asked, making Four turn quickly in the direction X was staring. Two looked surprised by the mention of their name, but quickly got over it with a shake of the head.
“X! Hello!” Two hummed with a wave. Four quickly dashed to their side and hugged Two, stuffing their face in the crook of the other's neck. Two pulled Four closer, then nodded at X. He walked closer to the two and waited for their hug to end, which didn’t take long as Four grumbled with embarrassment and pulled away. X nudged Four and pointed to the weapons, then muttered,
“Are those for training?” He hissed, making Four laugh quietly.
“Integer regeneration powers are pretty simple, X,” Four responded.
“Albeit it being rather painful, and not always working on big injuries,” They finished. X nodded at their explanation hesitantly. There was a brief silence as the three watched the two integers disperse from the area, their black and purple bodies disappearing from the numbers vision as they left. Two turned to Four and X with a tense face, their mouth twitching with nervousness. Four raised an eyebrow.
“I-I was…I was thinking that I could…Maybe try to…Find Three,” They whispered. Four stared at them, then glanced over at X. He seemed unfazed, and then slowly they nodded back to Two.
“Well then I want to come with,” Four said. X put a hand forward, surprising the both of them. There was a tired, but warm smile on his face as he had his hand forward.
“I want to join too. I want to hear what Three has to say for himself,” X added. Two seemed to wince at the words, but then gestured to the ring.
“Then I suggest you two train. I can’t protect you on my own,” Two said to Four specifically, then lowered their gaze. Four’s eye widened slightly, and they breathed out shakily. But despite that, they kept their voice unshaken. X looked at the integers, confused.
“Wanna train with me, X?” Four asked casually, offering a hand. He looked down at the hand and took it quickly, a smile creeping up X’s face coyly. X ran towards the weapons and grinned over to Y. Y was still lying down against the barrier, out of breath.
“Hey, Y!” Y perked up from panting, swallowing hard.
“Hm?”
“Make sure to cheer me on!” X called, and as though it were magic, their grin spread to Y as well. They nodded back to X wildly, giving a thumbs-up.
“You better beat that integer, Graph buddy!” Y shouted. Four huffed and frowned but didn’t actually seem too displeased. They pointed at the weapons still on the stand. X grabbed a sword and ran his fingers along the sharp ridges, then focused back in on the number in front of them, but a ways away. X walked near the middle of the arena.
“Let’s go through the basics in one-on-one combat first,” Four stated, their voice monotone. Their voice sounded formal, too, like when X had first met them. Hm.
“There are rules?” X asked loudly back, to which he got a brief nod.
“Okay…”
“First things first, you do not attack first. Always wait for your opponent to strike,” they said, getting into a more secure pose, with one leg out and their knees bent. X mimicked them, making sure their form was the same as the other.
“Why’s that?” He asked.
“Because if they won’t attack first, there’s probably another option other than fighting.” Four pulled their hands out, their fingers twitching in place. X blinked and watched small sparks flicker from Four’s hands.
“Secondly, while waiting for their strike, take in their features. Figure out their weakness before having to exploit it in battle,” Four said, their gaze flickering across X’s body. X whimpered slightly, feeling exposed. But he instead did the same to Four, looking along their body and their face. But despite it, he still felt slightly lost. He crossed his arms and frowned. Four’s face softened slightly, then they cleared their throat and looked away.
“If…-If you couldn’t find mine, it’s my face,” They muttered quietly. X gasped lightly, then looked at Four’s face. Their eyepatch.
“Your eyepatch causes a blind spot!” X cheered but cut himself off at Four’s strained face. X flushed.
“Correct. So, when you strike, go for my blind spot. My arms are also a weakness, since they’re wrapped up. Three’s other eye is his blind spot, since he can’t see out of it. One’s weakness is her arms; she doesn’t have any. Yours is your body, it’s still weak from all the damage it’s gotten from this past week that you haven’t been able to recover from. I would take this information too, since I may go for your weakness,” Four said, squinting.
“Another weakness of yours is you’ve never engaged in battle, I assume.”
“And how do you know that?” X whined.
“Y told me,” Four said with a shrug. X shot a glare at their green friend, who merely shrugged on as well. X huffed out a sigh.
“Okay, okay…What’s next?” He asked, a frown still apparent.
“Next? Well, now, we fight. Are you ready?” Four responded.
“Yeppers,” X hummed with little to no confidence.
“I’ll go easy on you, okay? When you get the sword to my throat, it ends. Or I get you off your feet for more than five seconds.” And after X nodded, Four rushed forward. He shoved his hand in front of himself, sending a zap into X’s direction. X gave a wobbly dodge, then stumbled backwards. He strained himself backwards as another blast was sent towards his face. While leaning back, X took his sword and stabbed it into the ground, using it as leverage. Another blast was sent, but this time it was towards his sword. X dragged it out of the ground and dashed to the side, making the zap collide with the barrier behind the variable.
Four grunted, taking a few steps backwards. In their downtime, X pushed against his back heel, pushing his body forward and slashing the sword. Four dodged, leaning back. They then pushed the sword out of X’s grasp, making it clank to the ground. X whimpered, then gasped as he was pushed back. He kneeled, then brought himself back to his feet. X stared at the setup presented to him, his sword on Four’s good-eyed side and near their grasp, while their hands began to spark with power once more. X hummed in thought for a moment until he noticed Four reaching for the sword. X felt his heart spike, so, without thinking, he slid, grabbing ahold of the sword as he did so. Four’s mouth hung open, but quickly shut as X got behind them. They whipped around to see the variable, but X was nowhere in sight. They glared at the arena as their gaze swiftly flowed from one corner to the next. They quickly turned around and got a blur of yellow, but again missed him. They groaned.
Suddenly, they felt cold metal against their chin. Four blinked in mild surprise as they turned their head enough to see X on his knees, the sword being held up against their throat. They stared at the variable briefly before grabbing the sword and throwing it to the side. X sucked in a sharp breath, expecting a blow to the face, but instead felt warm arms wrapped around them.
“Mnhghh good job, X! That was pretty good for your first run,” they said, nuzzling against X. Y whooped and cheered from the side, along with Two. X smiled warmly, pulling Four closer. He sighed with relief.
“How about a few more rounds before we go? We may have to teleport, Four!” Two called.
“M-More rounds?” X babbled. Four gave a thumbs up to Two.
“Yeah, come on, X! Just a few,” Four reasoned. X whimpered, but nodded, getting up and into a stance again.
_____________________
Four panted, slumping forward. X lay on the ground, huffing for air as his face was a bright orange. Four shook their head at the sight. They stood there for a moment until they felt a hand on their shoulder. Four jumped and cried out loud, sending a zap to somewhere far off. Two jolted and stepped back, then gritted their teeth.
“Oh! Sorry Four, I forgot,” They muttered, pressing their fingertips together. Four trembled slightly but calmed their breathing.
“I-It’s okay. Is it time to leave?” They asked.
“Where are we even going?”
“What place makes the most sense to go to?” Four stared blankly back at Two.
“The Tower! Infinity, you’re dense,” they said with a shake of their head. Four frowned.
“But the Valley! Isn’t it in ruins?”
“The Tower most likely has a protection spell. If not, then the materials inside aren’t particularly flammable. It was intact from what I saw,” Two hummed. Four nodded, then looked back at X, who was getting to his feet. Sweat covered X’s face, and he wiped it off with the back of his hand.
“You said something about teleportation?” X asked.
“I was thinking we could just fly there instead, actually,” Two added.
“Sounds good,” Four mumbled, snapping X’s and their bags in front of them. X slid it on his back, then found his way in front of Y as Two and Four continued. X wrapped his arms around Y’s neck and pulled them close.
“I’ll be safe, promise,” X whispered. Y chuckled and nodded into the hug, pulled X’s back closer to them.
“I know this time,” Y answered, sniffling lightly. X released their body and waved, them returning it sweetly.
“See ya, X!”
“See you.” Four skipped towards X and interlocked their hands, then bent their knees. X tried to mimic them, but quickly couldn’t feel the ground beneath them. Wind rushed against his face. He squeezed his eyes shut as Four grabbed him by his bottom nubs, feeling his face pressed against their chest. He felt their chest rumble as they laughed, swirling X around slightly. X peeked one eye open to see them in the sky, the camp far below. He screamed loudly. Very loudly. So loud he wasn’t sure if he ruined the mission entirely, maybe One now already knew they were coming! Four lightly put their hand on X’s mouth to quiet him, which worked overall well.
“X, calm down!” Four chortled between their words, making X blush in embarrassment and maybe endearment, but mostly the first reason. X felt tears burn in his eyes due to the cold air, but quickly blinked them away.
“I-I…Why haven’t we-!” X babbled, still very much scared but more confused now.
“Takes a lot of energy,” Four said, and slowly X opened his eyes to observe. He could really see the whole planet from here! He watched as he could see the tower straight ahead, then he saw a thick forest behind it. He could see a small river, but more importantly, he saw the fire. It was big, very big. It overtook the valley, and some locations X knew to be ranger stations.
“The last time a flew was in the ballroom, when you were…” Four continued but trailed off slowly.
“It takes a lot of concentration too, and balance. I have some depth issues due to my eyepatch, but Two flies just fine. Why don’t you fly as much?”
“Same reason I guess,” Two responded quickly. They turned on their back and started peddling with their legs and arms like backstroke.
“Not enough practice. Three can’t fly well, says it hurts him more than me, so I just don’t do it,” They added, their brows furrowing.
“Hm..” They hummed afterwards. X’s eyes focused on the fire beneath them, wincing.
“It’s so bright,” X said in a whisper. Four held him closer, their face wary. X looked up at the integer’s face instead of the hell below, since it hurt his eyes. And…Wow. The way the warm lights hit their face, hugged their features, softened their hard expression. Their eye had a single orange highlight that flickered with the light below. And how Four’s face remained mildly flushed due to the work they were doing, the gradients from blue to pink on their face were beautiful, for a lack of words. Pretty.
“Pretty…” X mumbled, a loopy smile making its way on his face. Four raised an eyebrow at him.
“What?”
“Nothing!”
“Let’s land here,” Two said, pointing down to the stairs of the Tower. Four nodded and breathed out a slow and calm breath, lowering X and their body down. When their feet touched the ground, they set X down. He wobbled in place at first, but gained stability as he followed Two inside, who was strolling in eagerly. Four’s eye widened.
“Two, m-maybe we should think about thi-”
“THREE?” Two shouted. Four slapped a hand over their face. X stayed silent as he looked around the room. He looked over to a pillar and recognized it from when he and Four would meet up there. He looked over to the spiraling stairs and how they were starting to become crumbly. But Two didn’t seem to care as they ran up the flight. Four and X chased after them, seeing as they frantically went past each level, calling out Three’s name. They came to a stop as they reached One’s room’s level. Four whined and hunched over as they huffed, although Two didn’t seem out of breath.
“Two…Ughhh…Maybe Three isn’t…”
“The ballroom!” Two suddenly spat, making X shiver. They got up and ran back down the stairs. Four followed, albeit slower. X hesitated, looking down the stairs and then back at the door. He then, curiously, opened the door. The smell of fragrant tea’s filled his nose. He took a few steps in, taking note of the two chairs in the middle of the room and the freshly brewed drink, still steaming. He also took note of the two papers in front of the red velvet chair. Before he could get any further, there was a shout from Four, and he frantically left the room. But before he did so fully, his eye caught on a necklace of pearls left on the table as well. He swiftly entered once more, grabbed it, then ran down the stairs.
When he got down a few flights, he noticed the door he had recognized before and ran to it, as it was cracked open. X slipped inside, and what he saw was…Well.
He saw the bloodstains on the walls. He realized that’s what it was now. There was a substance atop it that made it glimmer slightly, which confused him. But more importantly, he saw the symbols stacked in pile upon pile. Multiplication and division, at least twenty of the structures. X sucked in a sharp breath at the sight, then saw green from the corner of his eye. Then red. He looked beside him to see Four standing close to him with their arm out to press against his chest, almost like a seatbelt.
“Three?” Two asked hesitantly. Three stared back at Two with dilated eyes before shaking his head.
“Two…” Three murmured back, then frowned.
“Go back,” he said, pointing to the door. Two shook their head back.
“Come with,” They reasoned, their voice soft. He took a step back in response.
“You know I can’t do that,” he said calmly, shrugging lightly. Two muttered something, reaching out, but before they could take another step, a door from above slammed open. And the same place that One was before, she was there again. All eyes shoot to the number above, the air thick with tension. One eyes the scene below, her face already showing her annoyed state.
“Two? Four? …X,” One mumbled, their gaze flicking from one number to the next. It landed on the variable being slightly hidden by Four, her slack mouth forming a slight smirk.
“You must be a severe fool to bring a variable here,” She stated, chuckling. Suddenly, she was down beside Three, and her hand on his shoulder.
“Unfortunately, I’d rather not deal with you all for now. So could you just…Go?” She hummed, motioning for the door. Two scowled, planting their heels deeper into the ground. Four’s eyes widened at Two, then whispered something towards them that X didn’t understand. In response, they muttered something back, which made Four gasp, then whine.
“I’m not leaving unless you make us go,” Two stated, their hands clenched into fists. One made a face at Three, then turned to grab a symbol and walk away.
“Two, I can’t leave,” Three said again, glaring at the ground.
“But we can help you! That deal, it’s bound to be broken on One’s end soon with what she’s doing! You’re powerful, Three. Why can’t you just see that?”
“Because I’m not!” He shouted, his eyebrows furrowing. Then he crossed his arms, thinking over his next words.
“I’m not because…Because I was afraid of her. A strong person wouldn’t do that,” he said.
“I’m strong and I’m afraid,” Four chimed in.
“Well, that’s because- No, never mind, I’m sorry.” Four glared at Three. X tapped on Fours' arm.
“Because of what?” X asked.
“Later,” Four hissed back.
“But you said-”
“I need you, Three!” Two shouted. All the numbers froze for a moment, their eyes going back to Three. Two’s face was a warmer color, and they stepped back, leading Three to put a hand out to offer comfort, but quickly pulled it away.
“No…You need to leave,” Three said through a scratchy voice. X finally felt himself listen to the conversation, the words processing in his head. He stepped forward, pointing at Three.
“Why are you so afraid?” Three’s gaze snapped in X’s direction. His eyes twitched.
“I already said-”
“No. You said you are afraid of One. But I think you’re afraid of more than that,” X stated, his voice low. Three’s eyes widened at this, his mouth opening. But before he could speak, One walked back into the room. She glowered at the sight of the numbers still there.
“Times up. If you couldn’t make them leave, then I will,” she said, sending a zap in X’s direction. He dodged, and thank math he did, since it burst through the wall behind them. Two gaped at One before powering up a zap themselves. As they aimed for One, Three hurdled himself into Two's body, knocking them down. Two sputtered and pressed their hands against Three’s chest, unsure of how to react.
“Th-three!”
“This is for your own good, Two!” He whined back. The couple wrestled on the ground, Two not able to get up in their position. Four noticed this, so they thoughtfully approached One with some zaps of their own. Buzzing rang through the air as electric lighting-like bolts were shot between One and Four. X watched awkwardly, unsure what to do other than that. He watched as a zap hit One’s face, knocking her crown clean off her head. And that ugly little rock snapped off, tumbling against the smooth floor. It caught his eye, so in a desperate attempt to help, he scrambled to grab it.
By now, One and Four were face to face, Four scratching her face and lower nubs. She groaned and grabbed his hands with one pair of hers. With the other, she sent a punch into his cheek, the blow making a crack sound in the air. Four screeched, and One backed off, her head pounding. Four pulled back aggressively, wiping their mouth. Violet fluid stained the back of his hand, so he spat the other blood to the ground. X hobbled at the screech but was easily able to grab the item while everynumber was distracted. He felt the warmth of power tingle his fingers as he held it, his eyes widening at the feeling. Pure, raw power at his fingertips. This was what he needed to power the ship, wasn’t it? This Yoylite, that’s what Captain A said, right? This was the reason why he was here in the first place, why all of this happened.
At first, he felt an almost euphoric sensation. Like he just concurred a god. And in a way, he did, having stolen this under One’s nose. And part of him wanted to take the power, store it, make it his. To feel like he was on top of the world. But… This isn’t why he was here now. This power isn’t why all of this happened. He was here because he wanted to stay by Four and his friends’ sides. And this happened because of One’s greed. Or something else that caused her to hoard power…To have such disgusting pride in such foolish beliefs. Maybe pain caused it, X wondered. Maybe it was pain and fear. That was the most likely reason.
By now, One had recovered from the screech. She turned to the still squabbling Two and Three, although Three was becoming tired from holding Two down. His grip wasn’t very hard anyway. She then turned to see X holding the Yoylite, her face going pale. They shook their head in disbelief for a moment before yelping in alarm. Four noticed this and X, and braced to fight her again.
“You- …You brat!” They shouted, powering up a zap. Four grabbed the hand she was using to zap and pushed its aim to the ground, shaking the ground beneath them. Four stumbled back and fell, grunting. They turned slightly towards X.
“X-! Just go!” He shouted. X stared, feeling stuck. He didn’t want to just leave Four! But they were telling him to, so… He turned to leave. One shook her head harder.
“Oh, no you don’t!” She shouted at him. They grabbed Four by the neck, pulling him upwards. He kicked his legs in protest, arms gripping One’s to release tension. But then she took another pair of hands and brought them to their face. X had stopped moving by now, dropping the rock in his hands instinctively.
“Four!” He screamed. Four choked on the hands, then felt one hand steadying his face and the other on his eyepatch. Upon realizing what One was trying to accomplish, Four coughed, trying to speak. To beg her to stop. But he couldn’t. Three had stopped pinning Two down and just watched in horror, Two pulling themselves to their feet. One pulled the eyepatch forward hard, but it didn’t break, snapping back. Four yelped and kicked again, knocking One slightly. She huffed and yanked at the eyepatch again.
The string snapped, and the patch fell to the ground.
One dropped Four from her grasp, her face emotionless. Four fell hard, their head hitting the ground with yet another hard crack. X rushed forward to their side, his hand immediately coming to Four’s back. He felt their shoulders shaking, and their back tremble. And he could hear their…Sniffles? Their breaths hitched.
“Four?” X whispered, pulling one of their cheeks to look at Four’s face. His eyes widened as he saw their face. Their right eye was barely open, and a huge scar covered their face. It looked like part of their face was melted or burnt. They slapped a hand over their face and turned, and X could see the tears dripping down their face.
“D-Don’t look at me…” Four croaked, their fingers digging into their face. X blinked, then slowly looked away upon their command. He ran his hand along with back in slow circles as Four sobbed. X looked up to see One staring down at them from afar. Her gaze lingered on the variable before she teleported the Yoylite back into her hands. She snapped at the dazed and unresponsive Three, who was staring at Four with pure terror. Two just seemed worried and upset for Four, finding their way to his side. A hand tugged at Three, dragging him towards One.
“I’d leave now,” One mumbled to them, turning away with Three still being taken. X watched them disappear into the next room, then turned towards Four again. Their breathing got more irregular as they sat and cried, beginning to cough and gag on thier tears. They quickly snatched the patch that was on the ground and pressed it to their eye, but with it limp, it didn’t cover much other than their eye itself. Two slowly stood after a few minutes, pulling Four to their feet as well.
“We should leave before…One comes back. I’ll see Three eventually, but…” They looked down empathetically at Four, who was still covering their face and whimpering.
“But this is more important,” they finished, beginning to walk. X picked himself up quickly and followed, keeping his gaze on the blue integer in front of him. They went down the stairs, down to the front of the Tower. Two looked around, then closed their eyes, grunting. And before X even realized it, they were teleported into the forest. X stumbled, then fell forward. Two panted, hunching forward. They leaned against a tree for a moment before adding,
“We’ll have to walk the rest of the way back.” X nodded, hesitantly looking at Four. Their eyes were dead, not a flicker of light in their pupils. X sucked in a breath, frowning. But despite it, he very slowly reached for their hand. Their eyes watched silently, and they almost looked surprised, but did nothing to object. X interlinked their fingers, and when Two was ready, led Four along. They walked for hours in silence, not a word coming from anyone’s lips. X hopes they get to the camp soon.