TW: CULT MENTALITY, marriage, SA, abuse, very heavy shit. This one's a long time incoming.

They could hear her vocalizing in the background as a house came to be around them. Her voice was drenched in a nostalgic kind of innocence, it made their hearts ache already.

A couple sat in front of them, a blonde mother and brunette father dressed in matching brown sweaters. The people around them were wearing the same thing, and looking around they noticed they were at a baby shower with all of the presents and pictures of a baby's ultrasound.

It took Jaden a moment to notice he was hot, now he was wearing a brown sweater and so were the others.

They could only assume these people in front of them were Anna's parents, she looked just like her father.

Adam was the first to notice the signage and gasped under his breath. This was a baby shower for a baby girl.

"If you weren't born with it
You can buy a couple ornaments
Just be sure to read the warning, kids
Cause pretty soon you'll be bored of it."

The woman rubbed her swollen stomach and smiled at her husband as people came forward with gifts. Brown little onesies, brown dresses and hair bows, brown diapers. Everything they gave the couple was brown and bland, but it brought excitement into the room anyways.

The last gift was from what they could only assume to be a priest or pastor of some kind by the way he was dressed. When he passed through the crowd of people they turned to bow their heads. This clearly was a very powerful man, and when he got to Anna's mom she carefully got down on her hands and knees like she was worshipping him, and kissed his shoes in reverence.

He tilted her head up and smiled kindly, and she shut her eyes in bliss.

Everyone gathered around to see what he'd given the couple, but upon them opening the box the polycule gasped and turned away in the deepest horror they'd ever had.

It was a box of sex toys. Worse than that they were tiny, it could only be assumed they were for the coming person. None of them knew that was a thing but apparently it was, and Anna's parents were thrilled.

"Sexual, hey girl
If you wanna feel sexual
You can always call up a professional
They stick pins in you like a vegetable."

Another scene brought them to a hospital room where Anna's mother was drenched in sweat screaming as hard as she could while she pushed. This wasn't a normal hospital though, it was quickly apparent that it was just a small building.

One last push and a little boy was born screaming, but healthy.

The mother cradled him and though they couldn't hear what she said, they could read her lips. "Welcome, Stella."

This was when Adam decided he didn't need to know anymore. If this was the only thing he knew, he could understand why she had kept her story a secret for their sanity.

But the song had barely started. They hadn't even reached the chorus yet.

"Kids forever, kids forever
Baby soft skin turns into leather
Don't be dramatic, it's only some plastic
No one will love you if you're unattractive."

Anna's parents dressed their little boy in a dress and it wasn't a middle finger to gender norms, it was fairly apparent they were just raising him as one. It even seemed like they really believed they'd given birth to a girl.

Hazel started to feel faint and sick as he watched the infant version of his spouse age rapidly through her baby and toddler years dressed as a little girl. He had a feeling he knew why, there was little to tell about her early years.

Her parents had waited for her comprehension to come in first before they started brainwashing her.

"Oh Mrs. Potato Head tell me
Is it true that pain is beauty?
Does a new face come with a warranty?
Will a pretty face last forever?"

Jaden turned to stare into the eyes of the father as he patted his child on the head and sent them into the girls bathroom sternly at church. No one seemed to care, in fact a few sent the man humorous glances like Stella was being silly by thinking they should go into the boys bathroom.

The poor five year old could understand what parts they had, and it sickened him to realize the limp to their step. "Oh my god..."

The box of toys.

"Oh Mr. Potato Head tell me,
How did you afford her surgery?"

The next blink they were watching Anna sit awkwardly on a stool with a little bucket and sign above it. 'Fund my surgeries!'

Every person that walked past put money in, some even smiling at Anna like they were reassuring her. She smiled back innocently, and the pastor came up to smile and kiss her on the mouth.

Connie gagged outloud and everything narrowly avoided coming up. She regretted forcing herself to eat, especially when the pastor went for a second one while everyone watched with a disgusting sense of joy.

"Do you swear you'll stay forever
Even if her face don't stay together?"

Blackness, the polycule bunched up shaking in fear at what the room might decide to show them next. Most were nauseous, Jaden was majorly triggered, but they were stuck in this. There was nowhere to hide.

They had asked for this.

Adam came face to face with 7 year old Anna sitting on the bed with her father. He stumbled back in a blind panic into Hazels arms. He held him there as they all watched Anna's father point between two pictures.

A blonde, barbie doll of a woman, and a dark haired girl just as pretty but more unique and eccentric.

Anna's eyes lit up and she pointed to the brunette only to be slapped so hard every one of them surged forward to grab her, but the room froze them in place as the beating continued. They could only reach as time started moving again with her choosing the brown haired girl less and less through black eyes and bruises that lessened as well, and her starting to look more and more like the blonde.

She was choosing her clothes at the town store, the right clothes for a little girl. She would push away boy clothes her parents were using as tests, she wanted nothing to do with anything boyish.

There was starting to be a sparkle in her eyes when she chose right. She got a dreamy look as she stared in the mirror in front of her and turned to the side with a frown. She was looking at her chest in confusion and sadness, like she was missing a key part of her anatomy. She called for her mother and she came in to listen to her question.

It must have excited her because she choked up and hugged her close, then called for her husband. He came in with papers and showed Anna the first one.

FEMINIZING AUGMENTATION SURGERY was scrawled across the top of it and Anna squealed her excitement, nodding eagerly.

"If you want a little more confidence
Potatoes turn to french fries
Yeah, it's common sense.
All you needs a couple more condiments
And a hundred thousand dollars for some compliments."

Anna was easily a teenager now though young. Her parents were bowing down to her at the front of the church while everyone did the same. She looked confused... no, not confused.

She looked like she was under a spell, and the pastor standing predatorally behind her was eating it up, too. He stepped forward and pulled her against himself rather obviously, brushing a hand over her jawline with lust.

When Connie gagged this time, everything came up and she wasn't the only one.

Anna looked up at the pastor and smiled like she was in love with him, things were starting to become clearer and clearer.

Anna was a boy raised as a girl savior, set to be married off to this much older man, and she was brainwashed so hard by everyone around her that she was just okay with this. She didn't know any better.

"Kids forever, kids forever
Baby soft skin turns into leather,"

The pastor was locking Anna in his office, and they turned away as his pants dropped. They didn't need to see to know what was going on, they didn't need to see that!

When they peeked they were watching Anna hiding around the hallway corner of her house to listen to her parents discussing bottom surgery with the pastor. They were talking intently but clearly on the same page. A check for 370,000 dollars sat on the table from the church, the memo line reading, 'Anna's Purity Surgeries.'

They were building this child into what they wanted her to be, a D breasted, surgically modified woman that this shady pastor could turn into the perfect housewife.

A little boy poked his head out of his bedroom to stare at Anna suspiciously. They assumed this must be her brother.

For the first time, Anna looked unsure and even a little afraid. But why?

He raised his voice to yell and Anna's father got up to strike the girl, yelling and sending her to bed while her mother sipped at tea and shook her head in disappointment.

The brother was praised after Anna was locked in her room. They'd raised a son as a son to tattle on her, and Anna's aversion to snitching made sense. The pastor went into her room next and came out looking pleased with himself.

"Don't be dramatic,
It's only some plastic
No one will love you if you're unattractive!"

As the chorus hit again, Anna was being wheeled into a surgeons room with a wave to her parents and a coy kiss to the pastor. He caught it and grinned, patting both of her parents like a father.

Jasmin's face dropped. "He looks just like her dad." She didn't think anyone would hear her but they all gasped in various degrees of disgust.

Her parents were marrying Anna off to her own grandfather, at least that's what it looked like.

The more rituals they did on Anna as she healed from her top surgery, the more times the church bowed to her and sang their praises, the more they started to feel this was a cult. Everyone wore the same variation of brown clothes every day, there was a church with no discernible thing they were praising save for the pastor reading the Bible and Anna. Everyone smiled all the time.

They seemed to think she was some kind of messiah, and the pastor got down on one knee to propose to the teen after the sermon. She squealed and screamed yes, and the congregation started to cry their happiness as a whole.

"Stay forever, stay forever
Even if her face don't stay together."

A calendar was counting down as Anna tried on wedding dresses. When she got to a pure white one, both parents nodded proudly and kissed her forehead before going to pay for it.

She stared at her breasts tucked into the dress, then at herself as a whole. A small smile lit up her features but it was strained. Something wasn't right, she must have been sensing something like maybe the picture in front of her wasn't normal.

"Stay forever, stay forever
Even if her face don't stay together."

The polycule was transported to a stage but the pastor was in a tux in front of them. Another older man was patting his shoulder as an organist played and the congregation stood.

A thought appeared in their minds from a foreign source, it was Anna's 16th Birthday, her Sweet Sixteen.

She appeared around the corner dolled up like an adult. There was too much effort to make her look like a grown woman, but there was nothing they could do but watch her walk down the aisle in slow motion to the music.

Adam happened to look down, he didn't know why, and saw a trail of blood dripping down her leg. He swallowed as a panic attack washed over him. This man had taken his Anna's virginity before this, it was a marriage and a ritualistic de-purifying.

"Oh Mrs. Potato Head tell me
Is it true that pain is beauty?
Does a new face come with a warranty?
Will a pretty face last forever?"

The officiant spoke passionately as the audience nodded along and Anna's parents dabbed at their happy tears while they watched their underage little girl marry an old man.

The pastor squeezed Anna's hands and she smiled, but under that she looked like she wanted out. This was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Her skin was crawling, she felt nauseous. Something was off but she didn't know what, she couldn't stop this. She was powerless and would only become more brainwashed if this went through until she was officially trapped.

But she was too late.

"Oh Mr. Potato Head tell me
How did you afford her surgery?
Do you swear you'll stay forever
Even if her face don't stay together?"

The officiant swore them in, Anna was officially married to this pervert. He leaned in to kiss her but broke out in a heavy sweat and grabbed at his chest.

Anna startled backwards as her husband and grandfather tipped over and started to convulse. He was choking, his face started to turn blue as pandemonium erupted left and right.

Anna turned to look at the polycule directly, she met their eyes and everything clutching that bouquet she was far too young to be holding.

"Stay forever, stay forever
Even if her face don't stay together."

Anna dropped the bouquet and took off out the door as fast as her legs would carry her. She ripped out the veil, she pushed herself to run harder and crawled over the fence around the little hidden city she had grown up her whole life. She kept running.

"Stay forever, stay forever
Even if her face don't stay together."

Anna was just getting her 18 year old ID at the DMV, she was a full adult now but sitting next to her was another old skeezy man.

He brought her home to have sex with her and they realized she was voluntarily living with him. She was completely numb, she was bewildered by having freedom and used to this kind of life.

"Stay forever, stay forever
Even if her face don't stay together."

Time passed again and she was being helped into the house because her face was wrapped in bandages, her facial reconstruction surgery had been completed.

Soon they came off and Anna gasped, she clearly didn't recognize herself after the incredible job the surgeon had done. Her boyish features were just gone, and there was so minimal scaring she squinted and she just looked like a woman.

She started packing her bags with tears in her eyes and tore out the door faster than the man could catch her, he was that much older than her, and she kept running.

"Stay forever, stay forever
Even if her face don't stay together."

Alex intook a breath, he recognized this grocery store they were suddenly in as the one right by Nova, and then the dark skinned girl down the aisle crying into her hand looking at bags of Chaps. Anna went toward the younger Connie and after asking a question, wrapped her in a hug.

Then she was at Nova, noticing Hazel for the first time. He smiled as he passed and she went red as a cherry.

Next she glanced over in class to notice a quiet goth spinning a black pencil between his fingers. He looked her way immediately and smirked in greeting after a moment, and she turned into a little tomato.

"Stay forever, stay forever
Even if her face don't stay together."

Their living room was full of life, Anna was being kissed and snuggled as various members passed by to give her their love and she soaked it all up. She was used to praise, she was used to affection and being touched and adored by so many people.

The music stopped and she was alone, staring at her ring finger with a disturbed expression. Blue eyes looked to them and they knew Anna had played herself the entire song.

She didn't just show them, she lived through it again for them.

*

They all stumbled out and headed straight to the bathrooms, pushing past gems in a panic.

Anna followed behind and listened to them decimate the bathrooms as they coughed up what probably felt like everything they'd ever eaten. Some were gagging harder than others, some were just continuing to throw up over and over. She thought she heard crying or wailing but she wasn't sure. She was so numb.

She didn't blame them, but she went home and left them to their woes.

*

"Are you happy now, Adam?" Anna asked as they walked in as a group. "Are you satisfied with your need to be right all the time yet?"

He looked ashamed and shook his head like a scolded toddler. "No."

"Are you sure?" She pushed, sipping at a glass of wine. "You don't want me to leave? I can pack my things, I can go back home."

"Please don't," They all blurted in perfect sync. There wasn't any spare energy left to acknowledge it. It was sad.

Anna simpered seeing how absolutely drained they were, so she took the cruelty out of her tone. "You wanted the truth, so that's nothing but the truth. Are we good?"

Jaden unfused and Steven pulled Jacob in for a quick hug before letting him go to Anna and hug her as hard as he could without hurting her. He started to weep for her, he felt her pain in his very soul, and she nuzzled into it in relief. If anyone could understand what she'd been through, it was him. He rocked her and she felt so safe, like that life couldn't hurt her anymore. "Anna, you can talk to me any time you want to. I'm here, and I was wrong to judge you. Thank you. Thank you for surviving."

He pulled her away to give her a melancholy smile and just by random timing, she fell in love with him again. Those handsome green eyes shone at her. "I'm so proud of you."

He may as well have drop kicked her in the heart. That was all she'd ever lived for, she just wanted someone to be proud of her for running. She'd given it her all and she had escaped.

Steven was next to move, him surrounding both in an adoring hug and sighing. "Rose would have loved you two, you would've been her favorites. Sometimes running is the right and bravest thing to do. You've given me a new respect for her just by being human."

The rest just stood there awkwardly, purposely pushed from this moment and made to watch. They just would never understand the kind of horror the three knew of.

Anna eventually pulled away and gave the two her most affectionate nuzzles. They linked hands as Anna approached a possibly sulking Adam. She giggled. "Do you want a hug, Hubby?"

He nodded and pulled her into him like an addict. "I am such a massive asshole," He murmured nearly inaudibly. "I'm sorry."

She huffed. "Actually I kind of respect anyone who wasn't on your side less. What if I was raised in that cult to be an assassin who had a warrant?" They snorted at each other but Adam's smile didn't stick, and they gazed into each other's eyes. "I can take it, Adam. Don't spare my feelings."

"If you think I'm going to dump you because I'm secretly just gay, you've got another thing coming." Adam was about to speak again but he felt the tension lessen by 30% easily and turned to glare at the others. "Really?"

"He only said that to be an asshole," Steven assured them weakly. "He doesn't understand the logic behind it."

Adam cupped Anna's cheeks tenderly. "I am still in love with you... but I trust you less. I don't want you to leave, I need you."

She nodded tensely. "I understand."

His brows furrowed in pain. "Why do you sound like I'm dumping you? Please don't sound so sad...!"

Anna melted into his arms and pulled Hazel in, too. "You're going to be going through some tough emotions, I'm sorry for making it so obscene to hurt you back."

Jasmin cleared her throat awkwardly. "Yeah, that scene in the church keeps replaying in my mind."

"Is... extermination an option?" Alex asked carefully, moving to kiss her cheek. "Is it reasonable and just to assume they might be doing this to other people, and that we should just murder them?"

Anna chuckled tearfully. "That makes me feel sick to my stomach, too. I'm still..."

Steven frowned. "Brainwashed." She nodded to him expectantly. "Did Diamond tell you about last week?" He winced at her confirmation, then kicked at the ground with his hands shoved deeply in his pockets as he formulated a sentence. "I relapsed on the clicks."

Connie crooned under her breath and gathered his limp body into a hug. "You two are gonna be okay, just like Jacob. I promise."

Jacob smiled weakly and pulled Jasmin and Alex into him from either side. "I'm healing every day, thanks to you guys."

Later, Adam brought Anna outside to the porch to just talk. She rested his head on his thigh while he played with her hair. Even a single day of no contact was too much. "What do you want me to call you?"

"Anna," She replied quickly. "I was born as a Brandon, they had to put it on my birth certificate so it wouldn't raise red flags. But they called me Stella."

He nodded and watched the sun set with all of their colors in the sky. "You sound like you want to ask me something."

Anna sighed and sat up to hold his hands. "Adam... I don't want you to treat me differently." His head stayed but he caught her eyes out of the corner of his. "You didn't fall in love with Stella, you fell in love with me."

Adam turned his full head to gaze at her, to really see and observe her before speaking again. "Are you really still brainwashed? I... I'm internally ill to no end thinking about the fact you've been force feminized your whole life. I've hypnotized you, I've mindfucked you, I've babied and feminized you our entire relationship." He tried to swallow the lump in his throat but it stayed. Clearing it didn't help either. "You let me treat you like they did, it makes me feel... no better than them."

"It's not like they don't know where I am," Anna blurted anxiously. "But... I am still finding myself missing that headspace even after all these years. I-I have heard us called a hivemind before, and it made me feel things I don't understand. The way my brain is wired is that I need those things, I need the things you do to me to feed that part of me so I don't go back."

His hand tightened around hers. "You're poly oriented. They designed you this way."

She nodded shakily. "I know that when you have me in headspace no matter what you deliver me, that I am going to be safe." Anna cupped his cheek and smiled softly. "To answer the question you're not asking me: I am still transgender, even if it was forced on me. I identify as a binary transgender woman regardless of what I could've been if I wasn't raised as a savior."

"You're so brave," Adam whispered achingly. "I'm so proud but I feel so awful..." His eyes dripped tears onto their intertwined hands as he cradled them against his other cheek. "It's crazy that you found someone with a messiah complex and managed not to have one yourself."

Anna giggled and scooted closer so they were touching more. "Funny how things work." Her thumb swiped away a few tears. "Please don't treat me differently. Don't fuck me different, don't kiss me different, don't Little me different. Everything you guys do keeps happy in a more healthy and safe way. I couldn't handle it if you stopped doing these things for me."

Though clearly depressed he patted his lap. "Come sit on Daddy's lap, you need to be snuggled and safe."

She fell into him as he kissed the top of her head and swore she was safe and loved for who she was. He affirmed her so hard she went limp.

Hazel came out holding Asher and smiled. "We good?"

She reached for him and he slid to sit and wrap an arm around the two. "I feel happy."