Chapter Text
Felix was on his couch looking at the pages of his book of shadows, as if he was looking for something when Ellen entered his room.
"What are you up to?" - She closed the door behind her.
"Nothing much." - He replied, not looking up.
"You seem kind of frustrated though, did something happen?"
"Sam's been writing stuff on some pages of my book, and he writes it with a blue pen!"
"What's wrong with writing with a blue pen? - Ellen chuckled.
"It's blue! I hate blue pens, especially because I write with a black ones or a pencil."
Ellen sat down next to him, peeking over at the book.
"What's he written?" - She asked.
"Take a look for yourself."
Felix handed her the book, she began turning the pages looking for Sam's writing Felix was so mad about. On the pages he had written about the boys when he was investigating them Sam had written some things near where their personality traits were taken note of, like for example, on Jakes he had written 'stubborn', 'very impatient' and 'loves unicorns'.
"What's so wrong with Sam writing this? Besides the use of a blue pen…?" - She asked, confused.
"Look what he wrote on my page."
"Why do you even have one for yourself?"
"Because I needed to find out my element? Just, look." - He turned the page for her.
Ellen looked down at where his personality traits were, and there was indeed more of Sam's writing. It wasn't insults or negative traits like he had written on the other boys but yes a lot of good qualities Felix had, like 'intelligent', 'empathetic' or 'has good intentions'.
"You're mad because Sam was praising you?" She laughed.
"Yes, I am. He could have asked!!" - He snatched the book from her hand.
"Felix, he likes you and he just wanted to be kind, there's no reason to be mad at him."
"He hates me, Ellen. After all I did, who wouldn't?"
"I very much doubt that."
"Who are you to say that?" - He looked at her.
"Sam's one of my best friends, as surprising as it may be, and he really likes you, Felix." - She smiled. - "And how did he write that stuff anyways?"
"We sit next to each other during some of our classes and since he likes to draw so much I usually let him doodle some stuff in my book but now I know what he actually does."
"Aw, that's sweet." - She said, mocking him.
"Shut up, Ellen. Like you wouldn't do the same for Mia."
"Stop trying to imply I'm gay for Mia!"
"Never!"
______
Ellen woke up because of her phone ringing. She looked at the time and it was 9:48 a.m, she definitely wasn't planning on waking up this early. She was already thinking about sending some quite hateful messages to whoever decided to call her so early until she realized it was Sam. She had to admit, she always had a soft spot for the young man and especially during the last few years, and she couldn't really stay mad at him for long. She decided to call him to know what he wanted and get him over with.
"Yes, Sam? What is it?" - She said, in an annoyed tone.
"When are we meeting Andy and Jake? And where do I meet them? Oh, and can you go with me, like, not meet me there but at my house? I don't wanna show up before you and have to deal with the awkward environment alone."
Ellen took a deep breath before replying.
"It's only in the afternoon after the kids have lunch, so we can all go and meet him. And yes, I'll go to your house first so you don't have to show up without me. We'll be meeting Andy at the factory where the altar is. Jake won't be able to come because his game starts exactly at the hour we'll be there. Is that all you need to know?"
"Yup, thanks, Ellen. Love you." - He ended the phone call.
"Love you!" - She mocked, frustrated.
Ellen ended up getting dressed and eating breakfast as she couldn't go back to sleep afterwards anyways. Her morning was quite boring, she spent it mostly just planning out her classes for the next few days, which was always never an easy chore to do. She also ended up watching some television with the little time she had left before having to eat lunch. Ellen actually ended up going to Sam's house and eating there, they spoke a bit but most of the time it was silent. Mainly because they didn't have anything to say, really, but also because they were anxious about the meet up with Andy and finding Felix.
"You know, I still feel guilty for everything that Andy and Jake had to deal with because of me." - Sam admitted.
"Sam, you were dealing with something rough at the time. Besides, it's been 4 years, Andy and Jake surely forgave you for it." - Ellen comforted him.
"It's just that, if I hadn't just shut myself out at the time…"
"Don't blame yourself for everything, Sam. You know sometimes stuff happens that's out of our control. Today is the day you get to redeem yourself, focus on that right now. Okay?"
Sam simply nodded and continued eating, but that didn't convince Ellen that he was indeed going to try and do what she had just told him.
After lunch both of them went straight to Bremin High School to pick up the teenagers who supposedly had to have finished eating already. They took some time but nothing much, they had to leave Jesse and Luke at the school because they didn't have any more seats for them but eventually picked them up after dropping Heath, Ben and Nicco at the abandoned building. Shortly after arriving Andy showed up, Sam wasn't too excited about seeing him again and you could tell it.
"Hey, Ellen! Long time no see!" - Andy greeted her, giving the young woman a hug.
"It's so nice to see you again! It's a shame that Jake couldn't show up though." - Ellen said.
"Don't worry about that, Jake and I will be spending some days here too so you can still meet him."
Andy looked around and spotted Sam, he seemed quite nervous with the whole situation he was put in.
"Hey, Andy. " - He greeted him, not too enthusiastically and Andy noticed it.
But he didn't hesitate and immediately hugged Sam after he said that, which caught him completely off guard. He was expecting everything but what Andy had just done.
"Dude! I've missed you so much!" - Andy was all giggly and smiley.
"Same, it's great to see you again." - Sam simply smiled. - " I… uh, wanted to say sorry for what I did to you and Jake." - He apologized, letting go of the hug.
"It’s been years, Sam. We’ve forgiven you already, really. But, I appreciate that you apologized.”
“You got the book?” - Ellen asked, trying to change the subject seeing how Sam was dying of nervousness.
“Yeah, some pages are a bit loose so be careful.” - Andy warned.
Sam picked it up and both Andy and Ellen looked at him, curious, they were expecting him to say something but he just looked at some pages and quickly closed it.
“Let’s go in then?”
The group went upstairs to where the altar stood, Heath quickly lit up the candles with his powers, lighting up the area. Andy seemed to be feeling quite nostalgic, he looked around at everything in the room. Sam was whispering something to Nicco, but Ellen couldn’t decipher a single word he had said.
“Right, Andy?” - Sam tried to get Andy’s attention.
“Oh, right. The spell. I’m sorry but, I looked in that book a bunch of times yesterday and I couldn't find anything.”
"Really?" - Ellen seemed disappointed.
"Well, we're not going to give up. Let me see if I can find it."
Sam looked through the pages, the first ones were diary entries, then some spells and drawings. Most of the spells Felix had written he remembered, like the unmaking spell, or the memory wiping spell too. After some time of looking he randomly stopped and looked attentively at the writing.
"What is it? Did you find it?" - Andy asked.
"I think so. Yup, it's this one. Anyone who wants to volunteer?" - Sam questioned.
Everyone took a step back trying to not make eye contact with Sam except Ben.
"I'll cast it, after all I was the one who dreamed of it." - Ben said, and Sam handed him the book.
"Do you have any clue on how he found it so fast?" - Ellen whispered to Andy.
"No. But it's weird, really weird. I spent the whole afternoon looking and I couldn't find anything. How does he come up here and find it immediately?"
"It could have just been luck."
Before Ben cast the spell Sam went to put the talisman in the middle of the portal, it quickly lit up and made some weird sound, causing some murmuring.
"Elements of the universe within and without." - Ben began- "Open the door, turn world about."
Rapidly the portal opened, showing the warehouse but different. A quick windy breeze was caused, and the environment was filled with curiosity. Everyone looked attentively at the portal, expecting something to happen, not sure what. They all just stood there, admiring it, not sure what to do next..
"Alright, Sam is going to go in." - Ellen said. - "Someone needs to go with him, anyone who wants to volunteer themselves?"
"I'll go." - Nicco replied.
"Can I come too?" - Ben questioned.
"I'm fine with that." - Sam looked at Ellen.
"Sure, you both go. And be quick, I don't want any of you getting stuck there."
Nicco swiftly ran into it, then Sam and Ben went afterwards.
"Let's split up, I'll go that way" - Nicco pointed to her right. - "Ben, you'll go the other way and Sam can go that way." - She pointed to the open gate in front of them.
"I don't think it's a good idea to split up." - Sam said, later realizing the two had already gone in the directions they were given.
Sam decided to go after Ben first and later the two find Nicco. The young teenage girl was already far ahead, she quickly looked back to see if Sam or Ben were following her for whatever reason, she knew Sam never really liked the idea of splitting up in a place like this. But she accidentally ran into someone while doing so.
"I'm sorry." - Nicco apologized, still trying to catch her breath from running. - "You scared the hell out of me"
"What's a little girl like you doing here?" - The tall man asked.
"I'm just trying to find someone-"
"Who? Is anyone with you? How'd you even get here?" - They filled her with questions
"Why do you want to know? Who are you?"
"Who I am doesn't matter right now, this place is dangerous. You can't be here."
"Well I'm looking for someone, and I'm not leaving until I've found them."
"They aren't here then, the only people who live in Negative Space are me and my little brother."
"Maybe you're the person I'm looking for, haven't you thought of that?" - The tall man flinched.
"Who are you looking for anyways?" - They said, avoiding eye contact.
"Some dude who disappeared a few years ago. He's named Felix."
Despite Nicco's answer, the man didn't reply and continued trying not to look at her as much as he could.
"Why don't you take your mask off? Show me who you really are?"
"Never!" - He got quite defensive. "Haven't you thought that I could wear this mask for… privacy reasons?
Nicco chuckled.
"Privacy reasons? What have you got to hide under there? Pimples?"
Before the random dude Nicco was talking to could defend themselves, Sam and Ben ran into the duo. Sam was going to speak to Nicco, probably scolding her for not asking him if he was okay with splitting up until he noticed the other person in there.
"Who the hell are you?" - He asked, seeming quite confused.
"Him? I haven't figured it out yet." - Nicco replied. - "He's a lost cause."
The man turned around to get a better look of the new people who had just arrived, and he stared quietly and attentively at Sam. Even with an enormous animal mask on his face, you could tell they were surprised to see the two boys. Silence filled the place and an uneasy feeling too. Ben and Nicco looked at each other, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Do you know him?” - Ben whispered to Sam.
Though Sam didn’t reply, he just kept staring, extremely confused and shocked at the man, squinting his eyes as if he wasn’t seeing correctly.
“Damn, dude. You’re different.” - the stranger finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence.
“Do you know each other? Wait- You’re Felix?!” - Nicco realized.
“Shut up, kid.” - He said, quietly.
“Are you?” - Sam asked.
He took some time to answer, as if he was thinking twice before replying. Nicco was so tensed up by everything, desperately wanting answers to her questions.
“Yes!” He finally decided. “Yes, it's me!” - Felix cried out, throwing his mask to the ground and sprinting towards Sam, giving him a tight hug.
Sam quickly returned the hug, still shocked by everything. He didn’t know how to react to anything, should he cry? Be angry? Happy? He felt a ton of mixed emotions, feelings, and stood there quietly as Felix cried of happiness from seeing his friend again. I guess you could say the shock he felt knocked out all of his capability to feel anything.
“How’d you know I was here?” - Felix said, letting go of the hug.
Despite the question, Sam still didn’t speak.
“Sam, he asked you a question!” - Nicco exclaimed, now standing next to the three boys.
“I- I don’t know.” - He finally said.
“What do you mean ‘I don't know’?”
“He’s probably still processing everything. It’s normal.” - Ben tried to help - “Though we should probably get out of here.”
“No, I can’t leave-... I have to say.” - Felix quickly replied.
“What do you mean you have to stay?” - Sam ‘woke up’.
“It’s complicated.”
“It is not complicated!” - Nicco shouted. - “Sam came after you, he talked to Andy again despite what had happened between them, he misses you, your family and your friends too! It’s been four years, don’t you think that's enough suffering you’ve caused everyone?”
“What do you know about me?” - Felix was already losing his patience with the young girl.
“Enough to know people miss you!”
“Stop it you two!” - Sam yelped. “If I knew you’d be arguing with Felix I wouldn't have let you come!”
Nicco looked frustrated but shut her mouth, and Felix looked quite happy she’d been told to shut up.
“Why can’t you come home?” - Ben interrogated.
“Someone else lives here, I can’t just leave the kid alone, he hasn't had company for years.”
The ground started to shake causing the walls and ceiling to crumble.
“We have to leave.” - Sam said. “Either you like it or not, you’re coming with us.” - the young adult looked at Felix.
As the shaking got worse, the group made the run for it. The ground behind them was falling to bits, Nicco looked back and saw an endless dark, black hole underneath. She ran even quicker now, praying she wouldn’t fall into that. Felix was at the front next to the teenage girl, kind of guiding everyone to safety. He took a sharp turn, almost launching himself at the wall, he noticed the portal Sam, Ben and Nicco had come in from. He saw some other teenagers around Nicco’s age on the other end, a girl and one man he couldn’t decipher who they were from so far. He shouted at the others, telling them to be quick before the whole place collapsed.
“Look!” - Luke exclaimed. - “It’s them!”
Ellen looked at the portal, and indeed there were the three she had sent into Negative space and Felix, sprinting towards the only exit they had.
“Stand back everybody, give them space. The place is collapsing, they're running and going to need space, assuming they’ll probably launch themselves out of Negative Space.” - Ellen shouted.
“It’s collapsing? What triggered it?” - Heath asked.
“Probably someone's emotions, Negative Space reacts to your feelings. If you’re happy, it's fun, if you’re sad, angry or scared it slowly breaks itself apart…” - Andy replied, quickly realizing what he had just said.
“So you mean someone was upset? Why would they be?” - Jesse said.
“I’m not sure, maybe something happened in there while we were waiting.”
Not too long after Andy finished his phrase, Sam, Nicco, Ben and Felix came running out of portal, Nicco almost fell down if it weren’t Heath catching her. Sam was panting, completely exhausted from running, Ben was barely containing himself and Felix was on the verge of fainting. Ellen stood back, still trying to process that her missing friend was standing in front of her. Jesse quickly went towards Felix, who seemed like he was clinging on for life. Andy and the others were helping Sam and the two tired youngsters.
“Felix, are you okay?” - Jesse questioned, worried.
Before Felix could reply his body collapsed on the ground, causing Jesse to panic.
“Andy! Felix fainted!” - He shouted.
Andy looked immediately at the young man, and Felix was definitely passed out on the ground, he could see the fear in Jesse's eyes perfectly. He alerted the others and soon everyone was around Felix, anxious. What the hell had happened?
“He’s still alive” - Andy said, after checking for his pulse. - “He’s just unconscious. It's normal, I think.”
“You think?!” - Ellen exclaimed.
“Well, when I returned to his universe I felt really down compared to when I was in Negative Space, it was a very quick change. Like one second I was perfectly stable and in the other my body felt sore, really sore. But I guess it depends on how long you spend there. I was only gone for a few weeks, Felix was gone for years!”
“How do you even know it’s him for sure?” - Luke asked.
“He definitely recognised Sam, and he threw himself at him when they saw each other. So it's the Felix we're looking for, without a doubt.” - Nicco replied.
___
Bear ran in every direction, looking around. He still couldn’t find him. Eventually, he tripped on something. Getting back up, he looked at the object that had made him fall and realized it was the mask he had offered Felix as a gift. He picked it up. He felt hurt. Angry. Angry at Felix for leaving him, just like the others had done to him. He felt betrayed, like someone had stabbed a knife into his heart, as hard as they could and without regret. Felix had promised they’d stay together forever, that he would never leave him alone again. He lied to him, just like Andy, Alice and William did.