Work Text:
You could have heard a pin drop. It was so quiet. Unusual for the Music Department, even after everyone had died. The ink was still in the pipes. Or was that him not even being able to register the sound? The only sound Sammy could register for miles was the sound of his shallow breathing. Ink oozed out of his stomach, staining his overalls even more.
He had tried to move. He was only met with the sound of bones cracking and his pain-fuelled yell. Why had his God done this to him? He had done nothing to displease the demon! He had made his weekly, or daily sacrifices. He had lost track of time a long time ago. That should not have resulted in such pain though! He knew his God was cruel. But to be so cruel to Sammy, his most loyal follower? He felt insulted!
...Betrayed, even. Was it wrong to think this of your own God? That they made the wrong choice? He should be happy his Lord even touched him! Yes, for all the wrong reasons, but still! He felt betrayed. His Lord was supposed to help him. Free him from this inky abyss that had become of his body! How could his Lord do this?! Break his bones, create a gash in his chest and then leave him to die!
Sammy didn"t see nor hear the door open. All he knew was that the angel was standing over him. She had a frown on her face. Was this why his God had injured him so severely? He and the angel talked? Sang from time to time? It wasn"t his fault there was no one else to sing or talk to down here! If the demon would not respond and Jack was incapable of speaking half the time, he had to turn to the angel! She had the most wonderful singing voice too. Dare he say, better than his Lord would have.
"Sammy? The demon finally decided you were useless. Discarded you?" Not the time Susie, not the time. He picked up the parts of his mask, ignoring the pain in his wrist. The demon had snapped it in half. He brought half of it up to his face and looked up at Susie, huffing all the while. He tried to speak, yes, he did. All he managed to do was cough up some more ink. She gave him a look that he was sure was pure pity.
"Can you move?" Oh, could he move?! His leg was bent so far his inky boot was closer to his stomach than anything. He tried to move said leg, which only resulted in him hissing in pain. "What do you-" He hacked up some more ink mid-sentence. She only looked more concerned. Why was she showing so much pity towards him?! How idiotic. She should be running! His lord might still be hanging around here!
He was growing tired. The pain in his body was starting to fade. He was starting to grow more numb. The ink oozing out of his stomach was starting to come to a stop. It was slowing down. That was never good. He was in critical condition! He was going to sink into a puddle again! Sammy didn"t want to go through that process. Not again. Not with such injuries! "I"ll help you, Sammy. Go to sleep. When you get up, you"ll feel good as new!"
That was the last thing he heard before passing out, it all fading to black.
When Sammy next woke up, he was in a whole new area. Whatever he was on was...more comfortable than the floor he was sitting on before. Sitting up was painful, but he would manage. He always managed. He ran an entire civilization, he had to learn how to manage on his own! No use worrying the Lost Ones whenever he got hurt and he got hurt much more than he"d like to admit.
He felt around with his hands. Eventually, he touched something that resembled his mask. He picked it up, holding it up to his face. It was his mask. It had been stitched back together. All new straps on the back too. He put it on, regaining his sight. It felt much more comfortable now. The new strap made it much more secure on his head.
Sammy looked around the room. He was on a hammock. There were two hammocks inside of the room, counting the one he was on. There was a table near the one he was sitting on. That was definitely where his mask was before he picked it up. There was nothing much around. Except for some piles of ink bottles, soup and such. Susie had to clean up this place. He could clean it up as payback for this. Some sort of favour.
He tried to get off of the hammock, but pain shot through his leg the moment he tried, forcing him to sit back down. Sammy looked down at his leg. From his knee down had been bandaged up. Ah, for the love of the Ink Demon. He was stuck for now. Looking over the rest of his body, he realized his stomach also had been, along with his left wrist and a bit of his palm. Fantastic.
He was groaning when Susie walked in. She wasn"t frowning anymore. Thank the ink. He didn"t need any more pity. "I told you I"d help you. Do you feel any better?" He nodded, albeit begrudgingly, causing her to smile. "Good! Your boot is under the table. If you want any soup, I"ll cook it up quick for you!" Confusing behaviour. She helped him AND she offered to make him some soup?! What did she want?!
"What are you playing at, Angel? Now that The Demon has "discarded" me and frames me as no longer useful," He had to take a moment before continuing. "Are you trying to get me to do something for you?!" Even after his little outburst, she seemed as cheery as ever. How could anybody be cheerful in this place?! "You"re my friend, Sammy. I"m not as cruel as Allison. Why would I not help you free of charge? No strings or sacrifices attached."
She must have been able to feel him scowling since she apologized. "Too soon for the sacrifice jokes?" Too soon for the sacrifice jokes. He sighed, laying back down on the hammock. The two stood in silence for a while, Susie being the only one standing really. It would have been comforting if he wasn"t used to all the constant racket of the pipes. It forced him to think.
"...Do you truly think he has discarded me? Am I no longer his Prophet? Will he never free me? Was it all for nothing?" He didn"t immediately get a response. He expected such. It wasn"t a positive question. He wanted honesty though, not utter bullshit in an attempt to cheer him up. She would have to think about the question for a minute. If she didn"t, she"d lie to him. She"s done so before.
She let out a thoughtful hum before responding. "I think he did discard you, but that means you can give yourself a new purpose! You no longer have to serve such a disgusting creature," she paused for a moment before going on. "There"s no reason to serve him anyway! You may no longer be his prophet, but that means you can be your god."
She had a lot to say in response to that question, didn"t she? She kept ongoing. He wasn’t going to stop her. "That"s much better than being the demon"s prophet, isn"t it? Create your own colony of little worker ants. Be the new king of the colony! Serving the Ink Demon has taught you how to run your own, you should put it to use!"
Thinking about it, she had a point. Why serve a false God when he could be his own? It stun, yes, but this gave him new opportunities! He could free himself with enough work! Oh, that demon will regret hurting his most faithful prophet! He would get payback if that was the last thing he did. That creature would regret the day it dared to do this to Sammy Lawrence!
His internal monologue was brought to an end by him hissing in pain. He had tried to get up and stand on his broken leg. He sat back down immediately once he realized what he was doing. New rule Sammy, do not zone out. It leads to you injuring yourself more. "Don"t try to do that! You will injure yourself more! You"ve already gotten plenty of injuries," Susie exclaimed.
Susie was kind enough to let him stay with her until he was all healed up. Okay, she didn"t let him, she forced him since his used-to-be God was not happy with the fact he survived. He discovered that the demon had hoped he"d bleed to death. Didn"t even consider Sammy worthy of slaughtering! Couldn"t even be bothered to kill him himself. That was how low he considered him to be!
It was a nice change of pace. He wouldn"t say he was thankful for all of these injuries. They were annoying at best, painful at worst. He didn"t have to do those weekly or daily sacrifices. Wrangling up those Butcher Gang members from down below was annoying. The Lost Ones would pop in from time to time so he didn"t have to go through those puddles or walk all the way there. Susie would throw him in some soup and he"d eat it before going back to bed.
That didn"t mean he lazed around all the time! He couldn"t leave, Susie wouldn"t let him yet, so Sammy opted to help her out. Clean the place up. Organize the food and tools. Her weapons, food and tools were all in separate piles since there were no chests to put them in. There weren"t enough shelves for Sammy to stick everything in either. He had to tell her to invest in some shelves. This place was still cluttered. He did the best he could though with a broken leg, broken wrist and a gash in his stomach.
He did it all to pay her back. No one did anything nice in this place without expecting payment. Especially for him! It confused him to no end. Susie was being so kind to him, acting like she didn"t expect payment, even though he used to walk the path of the demon! He was so horrible he might as well have been a demon. Yet an angel was helping him? It was confusing.
Still, he accepted the help. Why refuse an angel"s help? It was a change of pace, it was much more comfortable here than it was in the Music Department and he even got an axe. For protection purposes, of course. She could have given him something else. She gave him an axe though. An axe! Susie gave him an axe! A psychopathic ex-prophet! Foolish of her, but who was he to refuse a brand new weapon? Sammy"s old one broke during the fight with the Ink Demon. and he didn"t have his dustpan. That was up in his department. He didn"t bother asking her to retrieve it.
He sighed and looked back towards the toilet that Jack was coming out of. This place had a toilet in a secret room in the prison area. He"d found that very useful. Jack could visit using it. "I don"t get what she wants. Is this a part of some long game? Will she end up being like the demon? I desire to be free, not to end up like a Lost One! Trapped in this...disgusting prison people called a studio. Not only on the outside.."
His toilet-bound friend reached out an inky hand and patted him on the shoulder. Gurgling something that would be utter gibberish to anyone else. "There is no way she only wants to help me. No one risks themselves like she did for no payment. Remember when Allison-" He gagged at the name leaving his mouth. "Remember when she helped Thomas? That traitor is now her slave! Her errand...wolf."
Jack shrugged. He didn"t seem as affected as Sammy was! Jack seemed like he thought Sammy was exaggerating the mess and making it more complex than it was. He might be, but a little sympathy would be nice. He would have rolled his eyes if he had any. "If you could even attempt to see it my way, I would appreciate it."
Jack gave him one more pat on the shoulder before disappearing into the toilet. No doubt going back to the sewers. He wasn"t going to force Jack to stay. It wasn"t as if Jack could help much with this problem. He wanted to trust Susie, yes, but he trusted the Ink Demon and look where that got him. Trusting anybody completely down here is a mistake. Jack is an exception. Jack would die before he even hurt a fly.
Sammy huffed, adjusting his mask before getting up from the chair. Ink Creatures healed much faster than humans did and he was no exception. He thought they did, anyway. His knowledge of humans was scarce due to amnesia. His healing abilities didn"t mean he was completely healed, but he could stand on his leg for some time.
He headed back to his and Susie"s room. Could he say it was his too? Oh, it might as well have been with how much time he"d been spending there lately. Walking back alone only reminded him of the issue at hand. Could he trust Susie? Was she helping him out of the goodness of her inky heart? Or did she want something out of him? There wasn"t much he could do but wait to find out. And if there was one thing Sammy hated, it was waiting. He already had done plenty of it for his old Lord.