CW: torture, gore & rot mentions
plays into the idea of the King being a horrible person.

AU name is shortened to "Cemetery".

songs this is inspired by: Partner in Crime & At the Cemetery, both by Madilyn Mei

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the kingdom of Unite-however you say it is.. not. Great. it's, in the simplest of terms, a Horrid and Corrupt place.
the King is horrible, the people are always fearful for their lives and the missing/death rates are sky-high.

it's not a fun place. there are rare moments of peace, but those don't really last long.

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the guards are.. something.
some are a fan of what they've done, some aren't. there's a lot of those who are fans then those who want out unfortunately.

Lava is one of those majorities, and so is Sam. Ntyree is a mixed bag but he hates what he has done to some degree too.
unfortunately Lava is kinda lying to himself about it. so uh. yikes.

since Lava is the best of the best, he gets to do the dirty work. with prisoners and such.
not like anyone outside would know what goes down there anyways.

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Box was a builder, a Map maker and a documenter in his spare time. he documents stuff that happens here (including the Horrors), make maps, and help with designing builds/building.
he doesn't like that the kingdom is censoring his documents and lying to the outside world, which is reasonable.
that led to his fate eventually.

Butterz was a builder to the world, and a spirit medium in secret. with the kingdom being the way it is, people often wanna know what happened to their loved ones when they're taken away. Butterz helps them in that, giving them a chance to talk to their loved ones before letting them rest for the rest of forever.
he never really knew Box when he was alive. when he wasn't, however.. :]

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i don't really know how i want Box to get thrown into the depths of pain. maybe for speaking up about the missing persons that many think (and is actually) caused by the guards/King themselves. maybe for stepping out of line. maybe he found something he shouldn't have.

one way or another, Box gets thrown into the dungeon without people knowing.

bad things happen.

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Lava is sadistic. he likes seeing people hurt, yet everytime he does so, it always leaves something in him rotting.
the job isn't helping him at all, but what can he do? leave and get executed? nu uh.

though, he excuses, that that day he just wasn't feeling well. that when he was trying to get information out of Box, that he was just tired. that the reason why there was a tongue in his hands and a sobbing boy was because he was just having a bad day. that the cuts and wounds weren't by his hands.

he can make up as many excuses as he wanted. he will always feel the blood on his hands, no matter how much he scrubbed.

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anyways yeah Box kinda died slowly.

Sam was nearby when everything happened. after Lava left, he went in to try and at least give some sort of comfort, albeit it was.. very little.

Sam buried him in the forest. he was able to give him a grave.
Box was declared missing hours later.

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Butterz found the grave, and Box, a few years after his death.

since Box's death was.. a very violent one, he's. he doesn't have gud energy. everytime someone found his grave, they often get scratches or get nightmares about mouth trauma. so it's often avoided, unfortunately enough for the lonely ghost.

Box is kinda vengeful, unsurprisingly enough, but really he just wants rest. something he can't have unless his murderer dies or he moves on (impossible). stuck to roam around his grave till the end of time, invisible to the world.

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so imagine his suprise (and delight) when Butterz calls out to him, something that he eagerly returns. and this is where their friendship starts.

with Butterz being Butterz, he easily dug out Box's body and made it useable again. Box can now move freely!! albeit he has to wear a necklace all the time, but that's something he's more then willing to do.
(the necklace makes him seem alive to people but lets Butterz know where he is at all time. it makes people around the body not recognize it unless it's someone who has magic in them, they're guilty in some way, or info about body is right infront of them. it's also a leash, in a magic sense.)

Butterz made sure that the necklace kinda calms Box's vengefulness a little, so he wouldn't attack people whenever he's reminded of his state.
he doesn't blame him, though. he has seen enough to know that the pain of being stuck like that is a horrid, horrid one.

With Butterz already living in the forest, they didn't really have to deal with trouble all that much. other then the occasional fae & things. Box scares them off fairly easily.

they get along well :3 Box gets to have fun with building and with Butterz also loving traveling, he also gets to make maps again!!
Butterz kinda brings Box with him so he isn't bored out of his mind, and so it can help him distract himself from his death.

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when the King calls for Lava and Butterz to go get new land, Butterz bought Box with him. with the King not having Guilt, and a gud lot of guards not even knowing who Box is, Lava didn't get a say to him coming.
(why did Butterz bring him? well. even though they had fun, Box was still a ghost. a very, very tired ghost. so Butterz is going to give him rest, one way or another.)

Lava recognizes Box immediately. he's his murderer, after all. but with how the necklace works, Lava just sounded insane.

so the King sent them away. he has no use for someone insane, after all. and well, he doesn't mind gettin' new land out of it.

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Box and Butterz barely leave eachother's side the whole time. Box because well, that's his murderer??? he doesn't wanna be near him, reasonably enough. Butterz because he needs to make sure the necklace works and that Box's ghost stuff doesn't show. also cause worry ofc.

Lava does Not like Box being around. since the Kingdom didn't even recognize Box, Lava just thought that Box looked like his victim. that his guilt was finally gettin' to him. oh boy, how wrong he is.

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when Sam was sent to stalk them, Sam recognises Box immediately. after all, he was the one who buried him, who couldn't do anything to help. Sam breaks a little.

Box doesn't blame Sam. he liked him. he was the one who was nice enough to actually bury him instead of leaving him to rot in that stupid stupid cell.

Sam is a guard. Butterz wouldn't like him either way.

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when Energy bought Box to the Enchanted Totem and Lava was slowly gettin' consumed by the curse, Box of course didn't die then. it did, however, break the illusion the necklace made a lil bit.

yeah, for a minisecond, Box was the rotting corpse again. it was too quick to be determined if it was real or not, but everyone there saw it lmao.

rip their sanity.

Oh yeah. and Butterz already knew about the cursed Island and the Totems.
how did you think he made the necklace?
(yes, Butterz is magical in this. Fight Me.)

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i think how this AU will end is that Box finally gets put to rest, Lava is murdered by Butterz's hands, and the Truth about both Box and the Kingdom is revealed.

i got some character stuff. puttin' them here ::

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Box (a ghost in a rotting body)

- [edited in cuz forgor] he doesn't have a tongue, so. when he talks, his words/voice is kinda beamed directed into people's minds. making it kinda hard to ignore him.. and making Trying to figure out where he is based on that kinda Impossible lmao.

- yeah he's. even though the necklace makes him look alive, he. he really isn't. his body is still rotting, still going through the stages of decomposing.
which is why Butterz is always there to heal him up so it doesn't give his state away.

- he's a lot more fragile then Butterz would like, not like he blames him tho. he's still a walking corpse, no matter how much Butterz attempts to heal his breaking body.

- this also means his limbs are kinda. easily fall apart. the necklace covers it up fairly quickly but if you attempt to grab a limb that isn't there.. yeah the cover-up is over quick. Butterz helps him with stitching them back together :3

- he really doesn't like Lava. he doesn't want to kill him, he's physically unable to, but he does want to see him suffer.
the Axe is going a pretty gud job at it.

- when he got like. 3 lives. it was put in the necklace and by extenden, Butterz.
Box did went to ask Butterz about the whole Enchanted Totem thing and Butterz did explain it all to him, encouraging him to find more.
so uh. yeah. they both got 3 lives, unconnected to eachother. fun.

- even though he's sorta already dead, he can still die again. that's why Butterz is always near him. if he dies, he'll be there to revive him.

- also him not wanting to have his blood taken has a reason now lolzz.

- yeah he gets taken over by his vaugefulness at some point, ofc he does!! Butterz has to stop him.. well, after letting Lava know that he's the only thing stopping him for suffering forever.

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Butterz (a necromancer, who loves to mess with the laws of reality)

- Butterz used something similar to what the Enchanted Totems does to make the necklace. and a lot of other magic & curses.

- unknownt to Box, the necklace is also a Soul Link. that's why Butterz knows where Box is always, and why Butterz is able to sympathise with him so easily.
he can feel what Box feels, mentally of course. physically would be a nightmare xP.

- the necklace also makes sure that if Butterz dies, he won't be for long. which means that Butterz would be a ghost until he gets revived.
Butterz is fine with that. after all, he did taught Box how to do it, even with most of his body is missing lmao.

- yes, since Box is a ghost, he'll be able to see Butterz after he was killed by Lava. Butterz is quite pleased that it fuels his haterd for the guard even more.
yeah he's not staying dead.

- he's not sane, unsurprisingly. he hates the guards deeply and Lava even more for what he has done to Box, something completely unnecessary. he's all for Revenge.
if Box can't kill his murderer, Butterz is more then willing to do so for him.

- the only person he's friends with is Box, and no one else. they'll only be an ally.

- dislikes Split, unsurprisingly. the magic stuff he does could be considered unholy, so you can guess how someone from a Church would feel xP
also kinda threatened him to not tell anyone about Box's whole thing. since Split has magic, he could recognize Box as the missing boy quite quickly. whoops.

- the Axe of Sorrows was his favourite creation, only beaten by the Necklace.
.. he's still upset that Lava took it. he hid it for a good reason, damnit!!

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Lava (a guard, cursed to suffer)

- Axe of Sorrows feeds heavily off of his gulit, it has never been so spoiled :3

- he hates being near Box. he hates remembering what he has done. he hates that he feels awful. he just wanted the feeling to go away. he never cared.

- when Box.. well. died AND almost attacked him, he figured out quite quickly that Box was the same person he brutally butchered.
he doesn't have fun Xp

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Sam (a guard with a guilty conscious)

- not much for him other then that he's really guilty that he couldn't do more.
and that's why he stayed to help him now.

as for everyone else.. well. they'll just have to deal with the kingdom drama xD
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yeah that's about it. if y'all got questions, or want some scenarios or things like that, feel free to ask!!! i luv talkin' about my AUs, no matter which ones<33

also.. 2055 words.. oug h. nice.