Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

'...STOP THAT! I HATE YOU! LET ME GO!'
The white-haired girl screamed at the nurses as she was basically dragged into the psych ward.

After a 'pathetic' failed attempt of hanging, where Fanny managed to cut the rope herself with a cutter she prepared (It was a HORRIFYING experience she would never want to talk about again), she was forced to be sent here.

God damn it, she wanted to be anywhere but a fricking psych ward. That experience was enough to make her never want to try hanging again, so what is the point of being here!?

'I don't need to be here, so LET ME GO ALREADY!' She raised her voice again, but obviously the nurses did not do so.

She groaned as she was brought to a 4-bed ward. Guess this is where she'd be staying for the next week. There were 3 other patients in the room, and she scowled when she saw that all 3 of them were boys seemingly similar to her age- a green haired one, a purple haired one, and a black haired one. They better not assault her or something...

'I hate this.' She muttered as she was now forced to the bed. It was already dinner time and so she was soon brought a not-very-appeitizing looking hospital meal. She never even liked food anyways, and this wasn't making anything better.

The nurse just watched over her as she ate the meal, and it was making her uncomfortable.

'Can you get out!? I hate being stared at!' Fanny almost growled.

'No, we must make sure you're eating enough.' The nurse replied with a monotone, clearly used to this.

'Well I am, 'cuz I just finished it. *shows empty plate* Happy now!?' She huffed.
The nurse was calm and just nodded as she took her plate and utensils away.

And then the nurse FINALLY left Fanny alone and walked out of the room. She sighed in relief as she dropped back onto the hospital bed. She hated this so much already, how on earth would she make it through a whole damn week...

Suddenly, a maniacal laughter came from one of the other patients. She had her curtains closed so she didn't know which one of them made that sound, but it was enough to send a chill down her spine.

She groaned again. Maybe she should just sleep and hope the week passes by faster.

...

A few hours later, Fanny was suddenly awakened by commotion around her bed. She looked up sleepily with a groan.
'Who the hell...?-'

Her eyes widened in horror and the sleepiness completely disappeared when she saw someone standing next to her bed holding a pencil, with the sharp tip pointing towards her.

It was the purple haired boy she saw earlier. He looked down at her horrified face with a creepily innocent smile.

Before Fanny could even react, the boy almost stabbed the pencil into her. She screamed as she luckily dodged it.

'AAAH! WHAT THE FUCK!?'

'This is soooo fun, righttt?' The boy said, his tone odd, still with that innocent grin on his face.

'NO, IT'S NOT FUN AT ALL! I HATE YOU! STOP THAT!'

Her screams woke the other 2 patients in the room up, and the green haired boy just stared in shock while the black haired one rushed to them and pulled the purple haired boy away.

'Were you- were you trying to KILL HER!?' The black haired boy screamed, and Fanny felt a sense of gratitude for him. Maybe not everyone in this place was completely insane after all.

'What are you taalking about? We're just having fun!'

'You think RISKING DEATH is fun!? Oh dear universe, do you know how much of an atrocity death is!?'

Atrocity...? Now that's a strong word. Death is still invevitable for life after all.

'AWW, DON'T SAY THAT! I PERSONALLY THINK DEATH IS BEAUTIFUL! It's so...un-pre-dict-a-ble- and soooo fun!'

'...YOU...
The universe despises you.'

Fanny watched the argument, and she was getting increasingly pissed off by the weird logic of these people. Why on earth was the black haired one so focused on the damn universe!? And what even is wrong with the purple one...

She opened her mouth, about to go on a rant or something, when the green haired boy suddenly stepped in.

'How about we stop fighting, hm?' He said.

The black haired boy let out a sigh and nodded, going back to his bed. But the purple haired one turned back to Fanny, staring at her with the same grin.

'What the hell do you want!? I hate being stabbed, you BETTER not be doing that again.' She scowled.

However, instead of trying to hurt her again, the boy started introducing himself.

'HI, MY NAME IS MARKER! I LIKE DIRT, AND MANY MANY OTHER THINGS! I HOPE YOURE HAVING FUN HERE! THANKS FOR PLAYING WITH ME! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?'

His loud voice and sudden fast speech made Fanny flinch. Plus, his words didn’t even make sense at all. The heck did he mean 'i hope youre having fun here'!? This is a mental hospital, for fan factory's sake! But she had to reply in case this guy stabs her again.

'...Fanny.' She muttered, her voice raspy.

'YAYYY! NICE TO MEET YOU, FANNY! WE SHOULD HAVE FUN AGAIN TOMORROW!' He exclaimed and then ran back to his bed.

Wait, did 'have fun again' mean...

Fuck.

Fanny sighed and curled back onto the bed, covering her head with the sheets. She didn't have time to care about that Marker guy now, she needed sleep more than anything.

Just as she was going to fall back asleep, the sound of someone muttering suddenly went into her ears. It was the black guy from earlier.

'Oh, my dear universe, please grant me strength and help me get through this horrid experience. Lead me away from this atrocity you call death, and anyone who trusts in it...'

...

Fanny completely took back the 'maybe this guy was normal' opinion from earlier. She hated religious stuff, especially CULTS.

Then, she thought of the green guy who stopped the fight, wondering if he was the true 'normal one'. God she hoped he was, she needed someone normal here.

Man, she hated this place already.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Fanny woke up on the hospital bed, and she was almost scared for a second. But then she remembered. Right. She was in a mental hospital. Not her house. Ugh.

She remembered what 'Marker' did to her yesterday, and her eyes quickly darted to him.

Huh.

Marker was sitting on his bed, but the energy he had yesterday night was almost completely gone. He just- sat there, his eyes dull and staring into nothing.

Well, at least he wasn't bothering her.

She looked over at the others, the black one was still sleeping, while the green one was-

what the hell.

He was holding a pen, aiming it at his own arm, and to Fanny's own experience, it was pretty obvious what he was about to do.

Now Fanny didn't know him, but she also hated seeing someone ending up like her. Plus, the guy stopped the fight yesterday, so he was probably worthy of her help. She got out of the bed and walked to him.

'Hey hey- now stop that!' She came off a little bit ruder than she wanted to, but she hoped that did the job.

'...No, I have to do this. If I don't, everyone will disappear, and-'

'You know that's not true.'

'It-it is! And I have to count, if the number of slits isn't 5 then it will fail and even my family would be gone! They'd go out for groceries and then get hit by a car or something-'

'I hate your logic! Listen, you've gotta calm down! You're not saving anyone, you're only hurting yourself!'

'It's not...it's not that easy...'

'*sigh* I get it.' Fanny's expression softened slightly. 'Look, I don't know how I can help you, but I just wanted to tell you that it's not worth it. If you still want to do it, then I'll shut up.'

'...' The green haired boy fell silent. Then he slowly moved the pen away from his arm.

'...If something happens to them because of this, I won't forgive you.' He sighed, his voice a little shaky.

'Yeah uh, okay,' She replied quietly. 'Uh...'

'Tree.' He finally revealed his name.

'...Nice to meet you, Tree. I guess.' She said, and Tree let out a little smile.

When Fanny walked back to her bed, she couldn't help but look at Marker again. He was hugging his knees on the bed, shaking slightly. The sight was a drastic change from how he acted yesterday, and it was definitely concerning. Fanny wasn't sure if she wanted to reach out to him though, especially after him trying to stab her yesterday.

And then it was lunch time, and some nurses came in. Great. She was probably going to be watched over like some animal again.

'Mr. Black Hole, you have to take your antipsychotics...' A nurse said to the black guy. So he's called Black Hole, huh.

'No, I'm not going to. I-If i take them, I'd no longer receive the messages from the universe...'

The nurse sighed and gave up. Fanny was still quite weirded out by the situation with this Black Hole guy, and she wasn't sure if he was actually a cultist or if he was just schizophrenic.

Meanwhile, another nurse was trying to convince Marker to eat, but he just kept burying his head into his knees.

'...I...' His voice was barely above a whisper.

'I don't...want to- *gasp*' He was cut off and his eyes widened as the nurse shoved a spoon of rice into his mouth.

'Sorry, but you have to eat...' The nurse said, her tone a bit more gentle than the one with Black Hole.

'...O-okay...' Marker replied, then he started eating.

A while after the meal, Marker walked over to Fanny.

'...Hey...Fanny, right...'

'Uh, yeah...what do you want...?' Fanny raised an eyebrow. He even talked differently now, almost sheepishly, a complete 180 from yesterday.

'I'm...sorry...for trying to hurt you...yesterday. I don't know what I was...thinking...' Marker rubbed the back of his neck, trying to seem nonchalant, but he started fidgeting moments after.

'...It's fine. I guess...' She muttered, not sure what to say.

Marker nodded then walked back to his bed, and he curled up into the sheets, covering his head and started crying.

Now that's REALLY concerning.

Fanny was about to stand up, when Black Hole did so before her, sitting down on Marker's bed.

'Uh...Marker, right?' Black Hole asked, his voice low but gentle.

'...Yeah...'

'You...good?'

Marker squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head.

'Do you...want to talk about it or...I know we're strangers but like...'

'You're not going to...understandddd...' He slurred out, darting his eyes to Black Hole.

Fanny just watched as the two of them talked, even though their voices were not quite loud enough for her to actually hear the conversation.

Black Hole hesitated for a second, then decided that he wanted to make Marker open up.

'You are acting...pretty different compared to yesterday.'

'That..I- yeah... This just happens too much...I was so happy yesterday and today I'm like this! I don't know what's wrong with me...' Marker said, his voice breaking in tears.

Then, Marker's expression became more of a crazed one, and his right eye twitched.
'...Maybe it'd be better if I just-'

Black Hole shot him a glare.

'Don't you even DARE.'

Marker fell silent.

'Look, I know you said you thought death was 'beautiful' yesterday, but I suppose you didn't mean it. You see, Marker? The universe is always with you. And it will protect you from that...atrocity. You'll be okay, and over time, it will offer you the peace of mind.' Black hole grabbed Marker's shoulders, his tone serious.

'...I want dirt.'

'Uh...you...what?' Black Hole froze in confusion.

'I WANT DIRT!! CAN YOU GET ME SOME PLEASEEEEEE?'

The sudden loud voice made Fanny and even Tree flinch.

'What the actual-' Fanny exclaimed. Wasn't Marker like a literal kicked puppy just a minute ago...!?

'No? Awwww.....IT'S OKAY, CUZ I CAN GO GET SOME MYSELF!!! I KNOW WHERE THE GARDEN IS.' Marker said as he naruto-ran out of the ward, leaving the other 3 staring at the doorway in disbelief.

'He's going to get caught by the nurses the next second, I'm pretty sure.' Tree predicted, and that was exactly what happened. A nurse just dragged Marker back in.

'NOOO, LET ME GOO!!!' He screamed, but to no avail, the nurse just kept holding him. Even after he was settled back onto the bed, the nurse wasn't leaving, and just stood at the door.

'Ugh, great. Now they're gonna watch over us again.' Fanny thought.

No one dared to say a word, knowing the nurse is here. Black Hole still seemed to be
incredibly confused about Marker's change of behavior, while Tree was shifting uncomfortably in his bed for some reason.

'Can you just get me dirt pleaseee?' Marker begged the nurse.

'No, we're not going to do that. It will dirty the environment.' The nurse replied, and Marker frowned.

'It's time for your therapy session.'

'WHATT!? But I don't wanna...'

'It's not a choice, you have to.'

And so Marker reluctantly followed the nurse out of the ward.

...

'...I'm going to the bathroom.' Black Hole said, shutting the bathroom door.

Now Fanny was left alone with Tree, which was actually decent, since Tree seemed to be the most tolerable out of the 3 boys.

Tree walked over to Fanny's bed. It looked like he wanted to chat, but he also wasn't saying anything.

'...uh...'

'I-i hate dead silence!'

'It's not like we have anything to say...'

Well, Tree had a point.

...

'What do you think of that black guy?' Tree finally came up with a topic.

'Black Hole?'

'Huh? O-oh wait, that's his name? Okay. So, how do ya think....'

'...Eh. I hate his universe bullshit.'

'Yeah, but I dunno, he seems pretty nice besides that. The way he reached out to Marker and all.'

Fanny hesitated for a moment.

'Does he actually care about Marker...or does he just not want him to die.'

Tree's eyes widened slightly, and for a few seconds, he just stared at Fanny in surprise.

'...I suppose it's both.'