Soul Trade AU

Feliz Cumpleaños Part 4: The Return

Mumbo peered through the keyhole, watching the scene play out. He saw Wels' eyes go empty, his arms and legs go limp. He vaguely realised that the blood had drained from his face. Was the fate that had awaited Ren? Or was he just the bait for one who'd be sure to sacrifice themself? Mumbo wondered, but he would never know.

He watched as the blue demon grabbed Ren and half-dragged him to a door. The one Mumbo was behind. And the door would open inwards. Naturally, Mumbo feel back on an old trick from school. He sat beside the door, legs tucked in to his chest. And when the demon came out, he kicked out at her. To make a long story short, demons have weak points in their ankles.

Mumbo grabbed Ren, and helped his ally limp along. As they hurried toward the door, Mumbo assessed the damage. Ren seemed to be in a daze, possibly from what had just happened, and he seemed to have twisted his ankle in the struggle against the blue demon.

They made it to the door before they encountered their next issue: Biffa. You see, while the demons had his soul, they could puppeteer him. And he was already one of the most dangerous Hermits, without any demons meddling in such matters. Seeing him almost made Mumbo freeze out of pure fear. But he thought clearly. He took more of Ren's weight, and charged. He ran straight past Biffa, and bolted to escape.

From that point onwards, they didn't stop for anything. Mumbo was carrying most of Ren's weight as well as his own, but the fear and adrenaline pumping through his veins gave him the strength to do it. Soon, they made it back to Revolution HQ. Mumbo wildly waved Grian over, and they helped Ren to a chair, before Mumbo collapsed on one himself. He deserved the break, anyway. Grian let him have it, while he looked over Ren's injuries.

A few minutes later, Grian decided that he'd patched up Ren's ankle as best he could, and went to tell Iskall the good news. That Ren was finally back. It was almost hard for Grian to believe, after the past few days. Things had been incredibly tough.

He lightly knocked on Iskall's door, slipping in. Iskall hadn't moved any further, and was still facing the wall. It was a pitiful sight. Grian hadn't known Iskall for that long, either, but this lack of energy just seemed wrong.

"Iskall?" Grian called hesitantly, "Iskall, I-I think you ought to know. Ren's back."

Iskall rolled over to look at Grian, eye watering. Grian waved through the door, and Iskall hesitantly got up, face filled with hope for the first time in days. He shakily walked over to the door, and Grian helped him stagger to the common area. When Iskall and Ren saw each other, they both made noises of surprise and joy, too overwhelmed for words.

Iskall and Ren ran to each other, pulling into a hug. Well, Ren limped, as Mumbo protested, considering his ankle. Ren was still in a bit of a daze, but neither minded. They were both ever so overjoyed to have their friend, their brother, their whole world back. Well, until Ren's dazed state got a whole lot worse all of a sudden.

Ren fell to the floor, shaking, one eye empty like that of a Soulless. Mumbo's face paled as he remembered what had gone down in the Demons' base. Wels had saved Ren, yes, but not entirely. Mumbo explained as such, muttering because he could barely bring himself to be any louder. The three rebels carefully helped lift Ren to the couch, and Grian went to get a cloth, to cool Ren down.

There were still consequences, eh?

And that's the end of the arc! I'll finish the sub-arc, take a short intermission with a couple oneshots, and then start the next one: Tri Not To Laugh.

Autocorrect, signing off from the past!