Just a Happy Ending

Bendy hadn't been in many mindspaces but he was used to pitch black in every direction with some manner of sand or water under his feet. So when he appeared in Henry's mind expecting something similar, he ended up falling over from the sudden onslaught of bright light!

He lifted one hand to his squinted eyes and pawed at the ground with the other. Something slid on the ground, scooting a little before catching and allowing Bendy to regain his feet, one hand still shielding his eyes.

He kept his face toward the ground and blinked the focus back into his eyes. The glare died down as his eyes adjusted, letting him study the mindspace.

Flat pieces of paper covered the floor. Some of the papers had unintelligible writing, most had scribbles, others were blank. The endless horizon had the same color as the paper, light tan with a slight texture.

"His mindspace is a sketchbook," Bendy marveled.

Now he just had to find Henry. But there arose a problem: he couldn't sense anything. Usually he could tell where a mind's center was, but here it was like being in a desert with no sun or compass to guide him. Was Henry intentionally hiding? Or... was there nothing to hide and therefore nothing to sense?

Bendy shook his head. "He has to be around here somewhere! He might be protecting himself, o-or maybe asleep? I gotta find him. I have to! Just... focus. Listen for something. Anything."

He closed his eyes and listened.

And listened...

... to the deafening silence.

Not even an artificial wind to rustle the paper.

No pulse except his own, nor a breath.

"Henry please..." Bendy whispered, "Where are you?"

Silence.

Silence so loud it made his head ring.

Thus it couldn't be anything else but a distant noise that brushed his ears.

It was so far away, but it was unmistakably a noise. It sounded like a hand sliding across wood. More silence. Then an object hit the ground.

Bendy physically jumped at the flood of ink instantly soaking through the paper, as if a giant pen struck and let its ink bleed through the world. Ink rivers stretched toward Bendy's feet from a distant epicenter.

"Henry..."

Bendy rushed for the middle of the ink stain. It wasn't long before the blanketing black gave way to spatters of gold. They led a trail onward, farther and farther toward the center of Henry's mind.

A shape appeared in the distance. Bendy sped up until he could make out what the shape was, then slowed to a jog. Then a walk. Then he stopped.

A pen was stuck tip down in a sheet of paper, dropped from the limp hand above it.

The breath caught in Bendy's chest. He'd imagined this before in a fake headline Joey wrote. The bold black letters flashed behind his eyes as he looked upon the scene.

'Local Artist Pushed Himself Too Hard, Found Dead At Desk.'

Here it was, come to life; a familiar desk with aged etchings on the rough sides, papers lining the desk's surface with unfinished drawings next to a bottle of ink.

Henry sat in the rough wooden chair. His upper half slumped listlessly across the desk. His right hand had slipped off the top and dropped the pen that led Bendy there.

Bendy picked up the pen. Its tip still dripped black and gold ink. He slowly placed the pen back into Henry's hand and curled his fingers around the implement. The toon then clambered up onto the desk and, with great effort, hauled the man's shoulders up and leaned him back in the chair. His head lolled back and his shoulders sagged.

Bendy crouched on the desk in front of Henry, his hands resting on the man's chest and trying to feel for any sign of life. "H-Henry? Henry, can you hear me?"

No response. Bendy gently stepped off the desk and stood on Henry's lap, still shaking his shoulders and tapping him in an effort to wake him up. "Henry, please!"

The man remained lifeless. Bendy lit up his soul and watched its wisps and shining grains outline the void where it should be in Henry's chest. His eyes welled up and he started whimpering, "H-Henry, please! I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean for this to ha-happen!"

Bendy hugged Henry tight, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt as the tears started in earnest.

"Please, Henry, I'm sorry! I didn't know this would happen, I never wanted this to happen! You weren't ever a liar o-or a traitor or any of the awful things Joey told me you were. You came back for me again and again even though I hurt you, e-even though I killed you! Please just-... just back one more time!

"I need you, Henry, please! You promised! You promised you'd help me and you made me believe I could have a happy ending." Bendy's hands gripped tighter, "But what's a happy ending without you?"

The void didn't bother to echo his cries.

The pen slipped out of Henry's hand.

Papers fluttered as the spilled ink instantly flowed outward and gripped the very seams of Henry's mind.

An empty nothingness overtook the horizon and began to fold itself inward.

Oblivion was calling. Henry had escaped the beyond for too long and now his mind and soul were in one place to be collected.

If the nothingness reached the center, Henry would be gone and Bendy would be a monster again. Joey would win. Everything the liar had said about Henry being unable to save them would prove true. Their only hope would be gone. The Lost would be forever trapped.

Bendy stared into the dark as it swallowed more and more of the papery space. Henry's soul fluttered inside him and began to spin.

He didn't want to die. He didn't want to be a monster again.

He had a promise to keep. He wanted happiness.

He believed in him. He needed faith.

Bendy wrapped his arms around Henry and screamed, "I can't have a happy ending without you in it!"

The soul spun faster.

Oblivion closed in. Its hands reached forward to take them.

The soul burned cold in Bendy's chest, but it wasn't painful.

It spun faster, unraveling itself. Threads flew from its center and ignited.

Henry's eyes glowed with vibrant gold.

Oblivion's hands were halted just out of reach.

Still the soul spun. Its threads knit themselves within Henry.

One became seamless, unbreakable two. Creation returned life to creator.

Then it was over. Oblivion vanished.

Bendy felt a little lesser than what he was before, but he could feel the other part just a soul beat away.

A warm hand on his back brushed the toon's back. A soft voice whispered above him.

"... Bendy?"