Chapter Text
Robert had walked with Roy and Ross, wanting to hang out with them. And he wanted to at least tell them about the cult, they wouldn’t tell anyone if Robert asked them not to.
“So, what was it that you wanted to talk about with us?” Roy asked, sounding confused and a bit annoyed as he ate his superman ice cream.
“.... I-.. Well… Ok, so I was kinda kidnapped by this cult and now I joined it and I have to keep it a secret from everyone but I wanted to tell someone so I chose to tell you guys!” Robert blurted out. Roy and Ross froze, just staring at him wide-eyed.
“You joined the cult- God dang it!” Roy stepped on a branch branch out of anger, breaking it, “Of course you joined that stupid cult, I knew Atticus was going to get to you-”
“You know about the cult?...”
There was silence between Roy, Ross, and Robert.
“... Yeah, I did, my parents are part of it, so I sadly have to deal with it as well,” Roy finally explained.
“I’m think I heard my mom say something about a cult to Mrs. Lila…” Ross mumbled out.
“So, I guess we all kinda knew about the cult.”
There was silence between Roy, Ross, and Robert once again.
“Look, I’m going to get you out of it, I’m not letting that manic be anywhere near you,” Roy declared, wrapping a protective arm around Robert. Ross nodded.
“I’ll help too. I don’t know much about the cult, but I’ll try to help,” Ross also declared.
Robetr stared at the two, wide-eyes, before pulling them both in a hug.
“... Thanks, it’s nice to know you two will help me…”
“Of course, Robert,” Roy managed to mumble out.
“Yeah dude, we’re here for you,” Ross smiled at Robert.
They stayed in the hug for a long time, before Roy spoke.
“Welp, we’re gonna join a cult-”
“WHAT?!” Ross looked at Roy, wide-eyed.
“Yeah, we have to at least make sure Robert is safe. See, here the thing, me and you, we’ll be fine. Robert on the other hand? He needs protection,” Roy pointed out. Ross sighed.
“Alright, fine, how do we join?” Ross looked at Robert.
“Um, well… I guess we go to Atticus… Follow me,” Robert started walking to the house on the hill. Roy and Ross followed.
When they got to the house, no one seemed to be there, weirdly enough.
“Huh, I was expecting at least one person to be here-”
“Ah, Robert, what a nice surprise!” Atticus said, stepping downstairs from the small flight of stairs. Ross flinched a bit, while Roy just glared at Atticus. Atticus chuckled, “And I see you brought some friends!~ Roy, it’s nice to see you here, it really is…~”
“Shut up,” Roy mumbled out, before sighing, “Me and my friend Ross want to… Ugh, we want to join.”
“Oh? And may I ask why?” Atticus had a smug look on his face, clearly being amused.
“Ok, listen her you piece of-”
“Ah, ah, ah~ Language young Reynold,” Atticus said smugly.
“We’re joining, to protect Robert from you, you manipulative-”
“Such a mouthy little one, huh Reynold? I can understand now why your parents never seemed to like you…”
Roy snapped and went to tackle Atticus, but Robetr held him back.
“R-Roy, calm down, please…” Robert slightly begged. Roy glanced up at him, before sighing.
“Fine..” Roy angrily grumbled.
Attcusu simply chuckled, “As much as I would love to keep this going, I think its time to get you two to join, so come on, let's get the process ready.”
“... C-can I be with them? Please,” Robert begged, making Atticus smirked.
“Sure, since you asked so politely. See Roy? You could take some lessons from Robert,” Atticus chuckled as he walked, gesturing for Roy, Ross, and Robert to follow. So, they did, following Atticus into a different room. Robert recognized the room as the one that led to Eyes.
“Alright, all you have to do is go in there, see the Eyes, and then you’ll be fine,” Atticus explained, cranking the lever that opens the door. When the door did open, Ross, Roy, and Robert walked inside, the door slamming shut behind them.
Ross and Roy looked up, seeing the Eyes Of The Universe and freezing. Like Robetr, they fell onto their knees, Robert panicked a little and knelt down by them*
“C-... C-can you guys hear me?” Robert asked, only to get no reply.
“They’re ok, child,” Eyes suddenly spoke, catching Robert off guard for a few moments.
“... P-p-promise?”
“I promise, child, I’ll do no harm to them… Well, the black hair one is fine, but the brown hair one…” Eyes glared at Roy, “The brown hair one has hurt The Everything and its friend multiple times.”
“The Everything?...” Robert asked, confused.
“Yes, The Everything is needed for me to finally be free,” Eyes explained.
“But the only person Roy has bullied multiple times is-.... Skid and Pump…” Robert stayed quiet, before looking at Eyes, “A-are those kids going to get hurt?”
“.... No, they’ll be fine,” That was a lie, they would, but Robert was too naive to tell the lie, “Now, how about we talk about you, child.”
“M-me?... W-what do we have to talk about?”
“Well, we have a lot, but I’ll just ask with one simple question… Why do you always smile, even if you don’t feel happy?”
“... I-... I-I’m the happy one, I have to make other people happy, or else they’ll be fine.”
“But don’t you see you're hurting yourself? You give yourself up everytime you pretend to be happy. Why?”
“.... I want people to be happy, this town, I-... It’s a sad town, if I’m being honest, but I want to make it better, to make people happy.”
“... You are a good kid, but you need to focus on yourself. You’re allowing yourself to get hurt and manipulated, all for the sake of someone being happy… I hope you make yourself better, Little Star…”