Third Person

There was no doubt that CannibalCrab enjoyed sleeping in.

It wasn't just a personal pleasure either, but if nobody woke him up, the general would often sleep past 10AM, and wouldn't wake up for hours. He did generally wake up before 1PM, but on his more exhausted days, there was no telling.

So, the crab would often get an awakening by one of the Illithids, some of the other generals, and even a rather rude one from KrakenKid himself. He was used to it.

So that morning, CannibalCrab was rather puzzled when he woke up on his own, not a single person in sight. He laid in his bed, trying to enjoy the comfort of it until he forced himself to get up and investigate.

I'm not on vacation, I already used up all of those days... Did I wake up early? Looking to his side, CannibalCrab's eyes laid on the clock, then his heart stopped. Nearly two in the afternoon. He was late.

Swearing loudly as he fell off the bed and scrambled to put himself together, his mind already spun with the things KrakenKid was gonna say when he saw him. The others might be able to get away with it, being lower ranks or due to not doing it very much before, but Cannibal was the kraken's right hand man, and he was already on thin ice from showing up late before. He didn't even bother with eating when heading out the door, he was already too late.

Stepping into the Conch Command, he immediately had to start weaving around the sea of Illithids working. Most were heading outside- most likely patrols increasing- but a few others were helping out Harold or heading upstairs. They all ignored him, busy doing their jobs but Gnash caught sight of him in the weapons room and gave him a 'Good Luck, you're gonna need it' look and gestured towards the upstairs. CannibalCrab gulped before heading up it.

KrakenKid's back was turned to him when he came into the situation room, and he was addressing some of the Illithids, but finished before he could catch what their job was and they left. Darrel was nowhere to be found, making the general wonder if KrakenKid was still making him stay on "Recovery Vacation" as he put it while he healed from his encounter with Ace.

In fact, ever since then, KrakenKid had been hellbent on finding Ace, and making sure he wasn't ten miles close to the Conch Command at all times. His sleeping had drastically changed, dropping in quality and quantity, and his eating had been just the same. CannibalCrab actually noticed KrakenKid had been drinking a lot more coffee than he normally did, which was saying a lot, and only ate scraps, not even a full piece of Special Chicken before going back to work.

Darrel already picked up on it and argued against it, but KrakenKid didn't seem to listen to a work he said, given he hadn't changed. The other generals had too, and all dropped hints, but the kraken wasn't picking up on any of them.

CannibalCrab shook himself, realizing he had frozen in place while thinking and finally summoned the courage to approach his side and tap on his shoulder. The kraken turned around, but his expression didn't seem to change. "Oh, Cannibal. You're up." His voice didn't give off any aggression and came off a casual. It threw the crab off.

"Yes, sir." Cannibal nodded, hoping appearing professional would help his case. "My apologies for being late, it won't happen again, I swear it."

KrakenKid nodded absently. "It's fine, Cannibal. You needed your sleep and I can handle this."

The general hesitated, now completely off guard. He's not... Mad? "Oh-uh... Thanks. But I'm rested now, what do I need to do?"

KrakenKid moved past him, gathering up some files from Darrel's desk and didn't look him in the eyes. "Take the day off."

"...What?" Is he being passive aggressive and ignoring me? He's done it before but he's never hid it so well... Is he even mad?

"Take a break." The kraken finally turned in his direction, but his eyes showed no anger in the slightest when they locked eyes. "I don't need any help, so take some time off. CrankyCrab has been brewing up some drinks all this morning, drink some."

The stunned crab barely recovered in time to dash after his superior when he left the room. "That's it? A day off? I want to help!" He called.

The kraken, who was heading up to his room at the time stopped in his tracks. He didn't turn around when he spoke. "Help isn't needed. I'm giving you a free vacation day, use it."

Any other day, CannibalCrab would've been happy to get a day off, but KrakenKid's behavior was concerning. Something was up. "Kraken! What is wrong with you?" The kraken waver him off dismissively but the crab ran up and grabbed his arm, yanking him back.

He stumbled, but as soon as the yellow eyes opened back up, the crab nearly yelped. Frustration filled them to the brim, and sudden anger made him wish he let it go. KrakenKid freed himself from the grip before he could act and pointed at him with his eyes narrowed.

"Break. Now." He growled, pressing his tentacle to his chest, causing him to back off. "That's a direct order from me."

Turning away, he marched back up the stairs. The crab was left speechless, even as he made one last comment. "You don't want to deal with the consequences of disobeying me."

CannibalCrab actually didn't remember walking down the stairs, or ordering CrankyCrab's special surprise drink. Instead, it was more like one moment he's standing on the stairs, watching his leader leave, then suddenly he's sitting down and sipping a crimson liquid in a fancy cup with a piece of pineapple on a toothpick hanging out and a purple mini umbrella.

He jerked suddenly like he just woke up from a dream and stared at his cup, wondering how he got there. CrankyCrab laughed as soon as he did. "Finally. You've been scarily silent for so long, I was wondering if you were sleepwalking again."

The General shook his head, trying to wrap his head around it. "No, I-..." Then he caught on to one key word. "Again?"

His cousin nodded absently, smiling like it was a fond memory. "Yep. Sometimes when you sleepwalk, you come up here, eat some crab, mumble some gibberish then go back home. Occasionally you'll stay here." The Chef multitasked between talking, and preparing various foods and drinks. "One of my favorite conversations we've had was your wedding day."

The general bit his lip, trying to decide if he wanted to ask. "...Who was I marrying?"

CrankyCrab snorted, making him quickly shake his head. "Never mind! I don't want to know!"

Neither of them spoke for a while, CrankyCrab being consumed with work and having to deliver meals to the hungry soldiers that came and went. CannibalCrab wasn't exactly busy, but did sip on the drink, lost in thought during that time. He noticed a couple things as his eyes began to wander.

One was the seemingly bitter blue bird in the corner of the upstairs seating. Darrel ate with his Illithids, and most likely wasn't happy about not being able to work. Darrel quite enjoyed his job, mostly because of the kraken, but also because he loved being busy. He might've gotten frustrated when he was interrupted, but he was even worse when he had nothing productive to do at all. Workaholic was one word, but CannibalCrab saw it as more of an addiction, due to how cranky and off putting he could be without it.

Another was how the other generals were working. Gnash was training troops, Bruce was updating defenses and even the new guy, Wilson and Hilda, who was normally out of the Conch Command were put to work, aiding one of the other too. Cannibal did find it weird that no one was out with the troops on patrols like normal.

His cousin brought him out of his thoughts, finally pulling up his stool and faced him. "Alright, Cannibal." He sighed and rested his claws on the table. "What's wrong? KrakenKid get mad at you for sleeping in again?"

CannibalCrab chewed on the now pineapple-less toothpick. "I don't know..." He admitted. CrankyCrab's eyes widened in surprise. "He didn't say anything about that, but he really didn't want me working today... I think I annoyed him."

His cousin nodded, and eventually shrugged. "Maybe it's just a bad day for him, and he snapped. Tomorrow he'll go back to normal and everything will be fine."

CannibalCrab nodded, but it was more out of as knowledgement than agreement. KrakenKid's eyes and works still echoed in his head, giving him doubts. "Right... Tomorrow."

Unlike his cousin said, the next day wasn't much better as even though CannibalCrab woke up on time, it was another vacation day. CannibalCrab asked if it was required again. KrakenKid's silence told him it was.

This time, CannibalCrab's face was buried in the table, and CrankyCrab left his cousin alone, seeing that maybe he needed it.

The crab began to wonder if he was even needed anymore. That if he left right then and there, it wouldn't matter. That KrakenKid could move on without him.

CrankyCrab put a tray of food in the oven, mixed up some drinks, and then turned around to find the General was gone.

———————

Ace had stopped dead on the porch. His eyes stared at the door, now wide open, and his heart pounded. Another impatient tug at his sleeve came from Chester. The blue eyes met the purple ones.

"Nobody's home, calm down." He assured him, then gestured to inside the house. "They won't be for hours. You coming or what?"

Gulping to himself, Ace carefully stepped into the house and tried not to flinch when the door closed behind him.

"It's only a house." Chester broke through his thoughts with his reasoning. "Nothing to be scared of."

"It's your house." Ace corrected. His eyes darted around, taking in everything quickly. "I've been inside other people's house but they all didn't welcome me."

"And being welcomed feels strange to you, so you're uneasy, I understand. But, I figured it was time you see the place."

Chester's home was on the edge of the poor district, but was one of the biggest ones there. Inside, it was pretty bland, having essentials and rarely anything more. A rug and something Ace learned to be a TV, though it was much different from the others he had seen. Thicker.

There were two sets of stairs, one going up and one going down. Chester began walking up, then gestured for Ace to follow him.

"Your house is... Different." Ace commented lightly.

Chester snickered to himself. "It used to look like all the other ones around us, but we added in extensions. A family of fourteen takes a lot of room. My parents insisted they could handle the money for the extensions but we all know they're in debt, even now. Instead of hiring more people for the basement, my father built it himself. It has a lot of faults and it's only one small room used for work, but it cost less."

Chester passed by a couple rooms before reaching the last at the end of the hall. Pushing it open, the room was divided in two, though only by a long blanket hanging from the ceiling to do so.

On one side, there were two beds and various toys around them. Mostly different types of balls but there was one action figure, proudly sitting on the nightstand between them. The other had only one bed, but had a long table and books on the side of the bed. On the table however, is what confused Ace.

Dolls. Lots of them.

Chester stroller over to the side with the dolls and picked on up, fiddling with it. Ace took his time to follow, but when he got a look at the dolls himself, he noticed the stitching. It was a little wavy and off, giving him the idea that these were hand stitched.

Chester already could tell what he was thinking, and answered his thoughts. "My Dad makes toys for a living. Normally a good business but he works alone and makes them himself. Doesn't like companies. Keeps saying they're soulless in their job. Every once in awhile, he gives one of us a chance to get any kind of toy we want."

Chester glanced at the blanket acting as a split between the two rooms. "My Brothers love getting balls or trains. I've always had an interest in dolls myself."

Nodding to show he was listening, Ace put down the doll, then froze when he noticed one. A mostly black body with orange sides and a white middle. Three feathers on the top of his head. He even had a spear in his hand.

"Penguin?" Ace mumbled, confused. Picking it up, he examined it closely.

Chester glanced to the side. "Oh, King Cody? I asked my Dad to base him off people. Some he does, and others I request. My Dad is fond of the royal family, so he made me one of the current king."

Ace frowned and put it down, searching around now as he noticed more, such as the mermaid sisters, the hybrid medic and even the kraken rebel.

Chester caught eye of some of his books on Souls, and when Ace wasn't looking, pushed them under his bed. He wasn't sure how Ace would react if he saw them, and he wasn't willing to tell him quite yet what he was trying to do.

Ace found himself recognizing more and more people as he went down the line. Then, his eyes locked onto one, and his heart stopped. With a trembling hand, he picked it up.

Chester turned around just in time to see Ace drop to the floor, and the chicken doll tumble out of his hand.

Chester bolted to his side. Ace hunched himself over, covering his face completely but his body shook. He started to mumbled. Incoherent at first, but then it got louder, and Chester could make out the words.

"I don't understand... Who is he? They took him away but..." Ace's body jerked violently to the other side, now only showing his back to Chester. "STOP THAT!" He screamed. Chester flinched but snapped out of it, grabbing Ace's arm.

"What's wrong? What do you mean? Who are you talking to?" He tried to ask slowly, but in his worry, it came out all at once.

Ace took in a ragged breath. "It hurts... It's doing it again... But I've been good, Why is it doing this? Why can't I look at them? Who are they?"

Chester's heart pounded, and he himself had to let himself breathe before talking. "Ace, slow down, talk to me. Who or what are you talking about?"

Ace went silent for a moment. "...Do you remember when I talked about the hatred inside me? How it would hurt when I didn't do what it wanted?"

Chester swallowed before giving a little 'Mmhmm' as an answer. Ace slowly turned around, and Chester had to cover his mouth to keep anything he didn't want to say from coming out.

The whites of Ace's eyes were now completely black, besides the blue, glowing pupils. To make matters worse, all around them, there were dark cracks, reminding Chester of shattered glass, about to break at the slightest touch. Ace squeezes his eyes shut, letting out a groan like scream in pain and clutching his head.

"It keeps talking about a 'Him'." He croaked out. "It's so angry- it keeps talking about fault and how they took him away. But I don't understand! Who is he? Why does he even matter?"

Chester shook himself out of a terrified trance and grabbed onto Ace's hand, though now found that his hands had the same dark cracks as his eyes. He squeezed it in reassurance. "Ace, listen to my voice. Please stay with me, we can stop this."

Ace nodded sloppily. "Y-yeah. I just have to bury the thoughts again. It worked before, it'll be fine."

Chester bit down on his lip, but found himself saying it anyways. "But it didn't work before. You need to stop it permanently..." His eyes fell to the ground to think, looking up when they were ready. "Ace, have you tried diving more into it? Finding out what it really wants and feelings?"

Ace shook his head hastily, but his eyes blazed with fear. "It's too much- I feel like I'm drowning when I do and it hurts so much..." Ace let out a small whimper and put his hands in his face, but Chester carefully uncovered it, looking him in the eyes.

"I know it hurts, but you might be able to end it if you do. Trust me?"

Ace hesitated, but nodded slowly before closing his eyes.

He kept them closed for a long time, flinching and twitching as he did, even letting out little cries of pain. Chester was by his side the whole time, and perked up when his skin cleared of the cracks. Moments passed before his eyes opened, now back to normal.

Ace spared off into space before sighing and relaxing. "Thank you." He whispered.

Chester smiled. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Ace took in a deep breath, and nodded firmly. His eyes moved to the doll he dropped, and picked it up as gently as he could. Chester finally noticed what doll it was. "Oh, that's another one my Dad chose. He says that's K-"

"King Joe." Ace answered before he could, fiddling with the arms. "Cody's Brother." Ace placed it back down where he found it, but didn't take his eyes off of it. "He's dead." He said more quietly.

——————————-

CannibalCrab traveled far into the edge of the Third and Second Sector and found a place to set up a makeshift camp.

The day was dull, and now feeling more worthless than ever, it was miserable.

His mind wandered even more, and eventually found himself thinking about the time he went crazy. Attacking and trying to kill KrakenKid being stuck in his mind was bad enough, but it was words said to him that got to him too.

In her corrupted state, Tanith heavily relied on other people, and when she found CannibalCrab after losing her previous partner, she was desperate and full of frustration. Frustration she took out on him, just through words.

"Well, CannibalCrab, how lucky am I? The guard dog finally has someone else to protect. Remind me again, what are you without KrakenKid? Oh, that's right. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just a poor, overly loyal guy who depends on orders to tell him how to live. And let me ask you, how would he be without you? How was he without you before? Would it really matter?"

Her words were meant to put fear in his heart and make him protect her, but they ended up affecting him even outside of their corruption.

KrakenKid was and had always been everything to CannibalCrab. His savior, his leader, the man who gave him freedom and peace, and without him, he was just fine.

He doesn't need me. That was the words he kept saying to himself as he fell asleep.

His awakening was most unpleasant in the morning.

"CANNIBALCRAB, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'VE BEEN DOING?" The voice roared, shaking him awake and leaving confused.

The general blinked, then finally focused on on a very angry pair of big, yellow eyes. He huffed in rage, crossing his arms. Behind him, a couple Illithids all backed up, leave the pair to talk it out.

CannibalCrab just stared at him. KrakenKid rolled his eyes. "Are you going to answer my question or not?"

"Uhhh... Sleeping?" He cocked his head in confusion.

KrakenKid looked around, glaring at him when he was done. "In the middle of nowhere? Couldn't you have done that in the Conch Command?" CannibalCrab struggled for words. KrakenKid threw his arms in the air, exasperated. "Do you know how worried I've been? You drop off the grid-no phone, no telling anyone where you've been- it was a pain to track you down."

KrakenKid glanced behind his back, starting to settle more but still kept a frustrated gaze. "Lucky for you, I still know how to track people down, and you're terrible at covering your tracks."

The crab looked down. "You went through all that trouble?"

"Well duh, you're my best friend." CannibalCrab's silence made KrakenKid suspicious. "You do realize that, right?"

The General didn't reply, making the kraken sigh deeply. He got down to his level and looked him in the eye, even if he wasn't looking back. "What's wrong?"

The crab let his body relax. "You were fine without me before."

KrakenKid hummed to himself. "And then it got better when you came. You made it easier on me, my duties and worries are less so when I know you can take care of them. You keep me stable and make sure I don't self implode on myself and shut other people out when that happens. I need you."

His eyes began to move a little, but didn't dare meet his gaze. Not yet at least. "But you were so mad at me before. You didn't need me so I..." He puffed. "I thought that if I left, you'd just forget about me and move on. I wanted to test it."

KrakenKid stared at him, mouth hanging open. "No! How could I forget my friend so easily? Never do that again!"

The pair didn't speak for a while, just thinking to themselves. KrakenKid cleared his throat, finally getting CannibalCrab's attention, though he found KrakenKid now avoided his gaze. "And I'm sorry for pushing you away... Truth is, I-.." He stopped himself, trailing off and putting his hands in his face, groaning.

"You what?" Cannibal questioned.

"I didn't want you doing anything because the only thing you needed to do that day was go patrolling with the troops and I didn't want that. Not with Ace around."

CannibalCrab scoffed a little. "I can handle myself, you know."

KrakenKid dropped his hands to his sides and met Cannibal's eyes. "You don't understand. He could've killed Darrel and Tanith, and I can't deal with another incident like that. Anyone who gets close to Ace gets hurt, and I'm not letting anyone near him. Not you, Not Darrel, not any of the other generals."

The crab frowned. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why didn't you tell me about your doubts?" His superior shot back, raising an eyebrow. "It's the same reason: We were too scared to say anything."

CannibalCrab let out a short laugh and agreed. They sat there in peace for a while, then KrakenKid stood up, offering him a hand. "Let's go home."

CannibalCrab took it, and they began to trek back.

************************
Two small stories, both about someone needing someone else.

For CannibalCrab and KrakenKid, they have some fun times. Ace's attacks that affected the people he cared about took a bit of a toll on KrakenKid, and now knowing he's pretty much impossible to track, he's much more dangerous. CannibalCrab has been having self esteem issues for a while, and now they're coming out, think that he's not needed. In the end, you're always a lot more needed than you think you are.

For Ace and Chester, it was a matter of learning. Ace had to learn that he needs to deal with his problems instead of just covering them up over and over again, while Chester learned more about how his friend works and what makes him shut down. Ace finally listened to what the hatred had to say, and while he was able to calm it by understanding it, it's not completely gone. Just under control...

For now.

This is why Ace blames Cody. Because that hatred not only infects him, but attacks at the mention or sight of things relating to him.
I don't need to say who, do I?

Anyways, I hope you guys liked this! Be sure to comment on what you think, and all that fun stuff, and g'bye!

—JustAnAtlantisWriter