Us. Always.|karlnapity|trans quackity au

Chapter 17: the void

TW: swearing, mention of abandonment, near death experience, arguing, mention of death/trauma, exile. (This is very tw-heavy, apologies. But all of them mean something to the story, and I will put a summary at the end because this chapter is somewhat unskippable.)

-Bad pov, 23 years in the past-

I float around in the void, doing nothing. I decide to just explore- after all, unlike most I don't take damage here. There's a whole lot of nothing, with the occasional hole I have to patch. 

That's the role of my family; we have to keep the void separate from the Nether and the Overworld by patching the holes in the bedrock that appear. The End lies far west of our house; further than any of us can travel.

I'm floating, patching holes, and generally having a good time, when-

A baby falls into the void.

Nonononono, that's not supposed to happen.

The baby starts to cry, taking damage.

I notice a hole in the bedrock, leading to the Nether, directly above where it fell. 

I float over to the baby, trying to think of a way to save it. 

I could try to put it back into the Nether, but I have a feeling it wasn't accidental. Any well-meaning parent doesn't just drop their child into a void hole.

The baby was abandoned.

I grab hold of it, its blankets floating in the absence of gravity.

There is one thing I can do. I mean it's not going to go down well, but...

I can't just let it die.

Home. I close my eyes, the baby in my arms. 

It worked; I feel the sudden pull of gravity pull me to the floor. The rush of oxygen is a friendly but strange sensation.

I open my eyes, looking at the baby desperately. Please don't let it die. It can't die. 

It gasps, air filling its lungs. It starts to cry.

Thank Prime. I cradle it in my arms, standing up slowly.

 "Halo? What have you done..." My younger sister's voice travels through the hallway. 

"The right thing."

She runs off. I know what she's doing; she's going to tell our father. He will NOT like the baby.

"HALO! KITCHEN! NOW!" My father screams. The baby starts crying again. It had only just stopped. I walk through to the kitchen, knowing that he wasn't going to approve.

 "What is it, Father?" I ask. I know what it is, but it's all courtesy.

 " 'What is it?' IT'S IN YOUR ARMS!"

 "Can we please be a little quieter, you're scaring the baby."

 "Halo you're missing the point."

 "I think I've got it pretty well. The child was abandoned, I couldn't let it die so I bought it here." The baby quietens, burbling.

 "What is the vow everyone in this family has taken?"

 " 'Protect the Nether and the Overworld, at any cost.' I would say that protecting a baby counts as fulfilling the vow, not breaking it."

 "BY KEEPING THEM SEPERATE FROM THE VOID! WHAT YOU'RE DOING GOES PRECISELY AGAINST THE FUCKING VOW!" The baby starts screaming once more.

 "Language."