Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was weird. Eclipse's new life. 

Not that it...Wasn't better than his previous one, no, he didn't want to go back to his old life. Not that he could, anyway.

No, he screwed up his old life.

That's why he was in this life.

Well, he was in this new life because of his own mistakes and Puppet.

Puppet whisked Eclipse away after what happened. Unlike Eclipse, Puppet was more than pleased with events that had occurred...Eclipse didn't know why, though. Eclipse hurt people, and that's bad...But he also knew that his Sun and Moon called Puppet an 'evil person'. That Puppet had done bad things.

Eclipse didn't entirely see it the same. Puppet treated him nicer than his so-called brothers did.

Then again, that might just be Puppet manipulating him. Eclipse wouldn't be surprised, and honestly, he wouldn't be made. Puppet had saved him and gave him a new place to call home. It was like Puppet accepted him as her own.

In a way, Eclipse was sure she did.

Eclipse had been wearing some kind of marker of ownership by her, so he was sure Puppet accepted him into her...Non-existent family. Puppet said her family was gone, just like how Eclipse's were.

He chose to ignore the implications of her words.

After all, she had given him a home. Who was he to question her authority?

"Eclipse...Are you spacing out again?"

Eclipse blinked, looking up. The other was a good two feet taller than Eclipse. and he was pretty tall already. It was hard to be intimidated by the height, though, when they were poking Eclipse's side in an effort to get his attention. Right, Eclipse was with Puppet. Like always.

It took him a good moment, but he did answer. "...Maybe," Eclipse spoke, his hand shifting up to hold his arm. Eclipse's voice was quiet compared to Puppet's, but then again, she was much broader than Eclipse was...Hence why she snickered at the dark sun's response. "Lighten up a little, bud, new place, new start!"

While the effort was nice...Eclipse didn't know how to respond. Puppet's the third person he's ever met, he doesn't want to blow it with some stupid response...So he only nods, which appears to be an acceptable answer.

That didn't mean Puppet's stare didn't linger on the other for another moment, a small hum coming from them. "Your bow is messed up..." They then commented, turning to look at the unkept bow around Eclipse's neck. The bow was from Puppet, of course...Puppet said it was to help tell Eclipse apart from the other parallels.. and so that people knew who he was associated with.

Eclipse felt like Puppet meant to say 'Who owns you'...But it didn't matter. Not to Eclipse, anyway.

"...I don't know how to tie knots or bows." Eclipse then admits, his gaze shifting down to the bow. He tried hard to tie it the first time, but it didn't look like much of a bow...At least it did have some kind of form, before. Puppet's just never commented on it until now.

The dark sun barely heard the tiny scoff from the marionette before they spoke, "They never taught you how to tie things?" Puppet then questioned, their voice sounding a little more displeased as she raised an eyebrow. Their stare felt a little more intent now...Eclipse almost wanted to shrink at the gaze. "Uh...No. I was very rudimentary...Even before I gained a proper conscious." He answered, which didn't appear to be as suitable of a response as his head nod from earlier.

"Eclipse, that still doesn't mean they shouldn't have taught you basic skills..." Puppet told with a huff, shifting Eclipse closer by the shoulders without another word...Puppet then proceeded to fix the bow with utmost care, making sure it stayed snug around Eclipse's neck.

It was honestly a scary thing to Eclipse how gently she treated him. Sun and Moon never treated him like this. Especially not Moon.

Never Moon.

"There we are, you're in tip-top shape, bud!"

Eclipse blinked for a moment, staring down at the freshly tied bow. It made him feel a little special. Did he forget to mention Puppet also wore a bow? Well, Puppet also wears a bow. And he's matching with them...

Is this like a friendship bracelet? Eclipse didn't really know, he's only ever heard Sun talk about them and he's never seen one before...

...But now, Eclipse has one. (So what if it isn't really a friendship bracelet? He can pretend.)

He liked it.

"I guess so," Eclipse answered softly, his hands fiddling with the silk of the ribbon. He's seen the material many times before, he always liked it. Sun had tons and tons of fabric stocked up for the Daycare. Not that Eclipse ever got to see it, he was always kept 'somewhere safe'. Even when he didn't feel safe.

"On that topic...We should talk." The marionette said as she, of course, stepped closer to Eclipse. God, Eclipse can feel the nerves building up already.

Puppet glossed over whatever anxiety Eclipse seemed to hold as he continued, "It's about the special thing, okay? I won't let anything outrageous happen..." She told with a snicker, clearly amused...But Eclipse's expression was the opposite. He didn't know how to respond, again, and his chest felt tight.

Eclipse's expression made Puppet pause for another moment.

"You did the right thing, Eclipse." Puppet's voice held an odd sense of authority, Eclipse was hoping this wasn't going to be that conversation...But who was Eclipse kidding, of course, it was. 

Puppet's next words were still sweet, but god, there was something else there, maybe it wasn't just authority talking. "Coming with me..." Puppet's hand traced Eclipse's rays as she trailed off. Eclipse didn't know if he felt grateful or concerned because she refrained from mentioning the other things that happened.

That Eclipse made happen.

Puppet gave another hum, still caressing Eclipse's rays as she continued. "You didn't belong there, Eclipse. They didn't deserve you..." She spoke, her voice lowering as Eclipse leaned onto her forearm. It didn't last for long, though, as Puppet started pushing Eclipse forward, deciding to walk and talk.

"You might as well of been some glorified science experiment, Moon was an idiot for what he had done," She said, leading Eclipse over to a small, brown desk. "Why, I wouldn't be surprised if Moon was worse than I am!" Puppet then exclaimed as she looked over the desk, lots of strange-looking objects scattered across it that Eclipse had never seen before. "And Sun wasn't innocent either, he let those things happen."

Eclipse's shoulders slumped, he didn't want to be reminded...

...No matter how much it hurts, Eclipse will always forgive Moon and Sun for what they've done.

If only Sun and Moon could forgive him.

The marionette clicked their tongue not too long later and suddenly the mood somehow seemed much brighter than before. "But it's okay, you don't need to worry about those two anymore..." Puppet then said, patting Eclipse's shoulders. She seemed ready to move past the subject quicker than Eclipse was, but it's not like Eclipse was complaining at all. He didn't want to talk about what happened.

Eclipse nodded in agreement, which made Puppet's smile widen.

"Good...Now, do you know what Star power is, Eclipse?"

Chapter Text

A lot of shuffling was coming from the room over, it made Eclipse vaguely wonder if he should go help...

But Sun said not to help, so Eclipse didn't. Sun told Eclipse to draw with the new crayons he'd gotten. Eclipse liked to color, so it was fine. But...Eclipse couldn't exactly hold the crayons right. They always broke in half. It was okay, though, Eclipse could still color with them, he liked crayons too much.

Even when Eclipse found out he couldn't eat crayons, Eclipse still liked them. Sun wasn't happy about what happened, but he didn't yell at Eclipse like Moon did. (It was Moon who made him eat the crayons, but Eclipse didn't tattle.)

Eclipse didn't mind, at least Sun taught Eclipse what colors were afterward. He knows the whole rainbow, now! Sun gave him the new box of crayons! It had colors Eclipse had never seen before!

And speaking of colors, Eclipse saw something odd. Two white, tiny eyes stared back at him from the darkness.

Those weren't there before. Eclipse knows that! The only one with white eyes here is Sun and Sun's eyes were big! Plus, Eclipse knew Sun was in the other room, going through things Eclipse didn't know the names of...

Plus, the two dots weren't hiding from him, they were looking at him. Actually, Eclipse noticed the eyes got a little closer. Eclipse could make out a tall figure, larger than Eclipse.

Eclipse was pretty big.

The figure brought a finger to their lips as if they were gesturing for Eclipse to do something.

Eclipse didn't understand what that meant, he'd never seen Sun or Moon do that before...So Eclipse just stayed quiet, which seemed to please the other enough. Though, the stranger's smile seemed rather...Permanent, (Eclipse thinks that's what the word means...) so he wasn't too sure.

"Alright, Eclipse, I'm leaving."

Eclipse's head turned towards Sun, whose head popped around the corner. From the corner of Eclipse's eyes, he could see the figure hiding within the shadows...Sun didn't appear to see them.

Should Eclipse tell Sun about the other person? Well...Sun was about to leave, which meant Eclipse would be alone. For...A while, he thinks. Eclipse wasn't too sure how time worked, he didn't know how numbers worked. His programming only accounted for the basic skill of reading, but that didn't mean Eclipse truly had the comprehension to understand what was in front of him. He learned primarily by following Sun and Moon's examples...Who were not here as often as he liked.

It felt like an eternity. Being alone. Eclipse didn't want to be alone and Sun never stayed with him...

Eclipse nodded, setting the broken crayon down. "Okay...Bye-bye, Sun..." From the same corner the stranger resided, he could barely see them tilt their head. Sun, on the other hand, seemed unbothered by Eclipse's response. It was how Eclipse always bid Sun farewell.

Sun turned away, walking off. Eclipse knew where Sun was going, he knew he wasn't allowed to go.

He was never allowed to.

Eclipse turned back to the mysterious figure hiding in the corner, staring at them. They were tall, that much Eclipse could tell. Even taller than Eclipse, and Eclipse was pretty tall...Not that Eclipse ever knew why. Moon always described him as a 'rudimentary model', and that typically they were not Eclipse's height.

Just another thing that put Eclipse apart from his brothers.

The figure, after a long moment of still silence, stepped out of the shadows. Fully, this time.

Eclipse was met with...A white face. Red cheeks and lips, smiling rather widely. Black eyes bore through Eclipse and those same white dots he saw from earlier were agonizingly present. The figure had...Something soft on their head, a pretty, fluffy white, just like their mask. It was short and it wasn't like his or Sun's spikey things. It also wasn't like Moon's hat. They did have a big, puffy thing around their neck, it was red. Eclipse could also see a pretty purple (A color he'd only seen in his crayons.) dripping down the other's face.

They were still pretty tall.

Whoever this person was stepped right up to Eclipse. "Hey, bud...What's your name?" The stranger asked, their tone matched Sun's but...It had something that Sun's lacked. It felt nice to Eclipse. Like the stranger was a friend. They even leaned down to talk to Eclipse!

Eclipse blinked, shifting in his spot as he looked up at the stranger. They asked nicely, so Eclipse didn't see why he shouldn't answer. "...I'm called Eclipse."

Eclipse was never told if that was his true name, but that was what he was referred to as, so he thinks that's his name.

The dark sun thinks the stranger's smile widens, seemingly happy with Eclipse's compliance. "My name is Puppet..." Puppet then told as they scooted closer. Something clicked in Eclipse's head, though. "Puppet...?" Eclipse repeated, his head cocking to the side.

Puppet nodded, "Puppet. Or the Marrionette..."

The Mary-on...What?

Eclipse didn't know what that was and he doubted he could say it.

But that wasn't important. He'd heard the name Puppet before, Sun and Moon had said it before. "Uhm...Sun and Moon say you're a bad person." Eclipse mumbled back, his knees shifting up to his stomach as Puppet gave a small snicker. "Bad? Well, of course, they'd say that..."

"They make me out to be the big, bad villain..." Puppet sighed, twirling the red thing around their neck. "It's okay, though, Eclipse. I haven't done anything bad, have I?" Puppet then asked, their voice still sweet.

Puppet was right, they haven't been bad.

"No...Not now." Eclipse answered, to which Puppet nodded. "See, I won't hurt you," Puppet answered, their hand running through the hat thing on their head. It looked soft. "What's that?" The dark sun then asked, pointing to the things Puppet's hand resided in.

Puppet blinked. "This?" Puppet gestured to their head, lifting up the fluffy hat-thing on their head. "It's called hair...Most girls have it, you know." Puppet proudly stated, running their hand through their hair again. Eclipse had never seen hair before-- But more importantly...

"What's a girl?" 

Puppet paused at Eclipse's question, their head cocking to the side. They were silent for a moment before they answered. "A girl is...A type of being. I am a girl."

Eclipse, albeit slowly, processed the information. "Am I a girl?" The dark sun then asked, innocent as ever. Eclipse's question made Puppet let out a snort, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know...Are you a girl, bud?" Puppet still had a smile on her face, so Eclipse assumed everything was still okay. "Uh..." Eclipse looked at his drawing...He didn't know, but he didn't think he was a girl. He wanted to know, though. Especially since he had just learned what a girl was.

"I think you're too fresh to understand that kind of thing...Sun and Moon keep you pretty dumb, don't they?" Puppet said, shifting closer as she peeked at Eclipse's drawing, too. Eclipse didn't mind, but he was a little confused. "Dumb?" Eclipse had heard that word before. Moon called him that a lot, but he never knew what it meant. Eclipse thought it was a good thing, but...Maybe it wasn't.

"Yeah, dumb...Is that why they keep you clotheless, too?" Puppet gestured towards Eclipse's body, which made the smaller take in his appearance for a moment.

What was wrong? Eclipse was like this all the time, Sun and Moon never said anything before...

Eclipse scooted a teensy bit closer to Puppet. "Clothes are the things Sun and Moon wear on their legs, right?" He asked, his rays twitching as he spoke. Puppet hummed, "Yeah, that's right. Those things on Sun and Moon's legs are called pants." She then explained.

Puppet's knowledge amazed Eclipse-- How could she know all these things?!

The dark sun sat in awe, "You know so much..." He said, which appeared to make Puppet more confident. Eclipse thinks that's the word. "Yeah, I do...That's how I came here so easily!" Puppet gave Eclipse a one-eyed blink...He had no idea what it meant but he liked how Puppet did it, it made them look silly.

"How did you get here?" Eclipse then questioned, smiling a little at the gesture Puppet had made. His papers shuffled beneath him. "I heard something calling me, and it was you," Puppet told, though her response only left more questions than answers for Eclipse. "I was calling you?" Eclipse didn't fully get what Puppet meant, but he was too curious to bother right now. He just wanted to know how he called Puppet here.

"Yeah, something inside you called a heart, Eclipse. That's what called me."

A heart...Eclipse knew what a heart was!

The dark sun shook his head, "I don't have a heart...Moon told me I didn't." Eclipse rebutted in clear confusion. He felt proud of himself for at least understanding one word!

"No, no...You have a heart." Puppet then retorted, leaning up to Eclipse. She placed a single finger on Eclipse's chest, right where Moon always opened his body and used strange tools on him. It hurts sometimes. "It's right here, inside there is your heart. I can feel it. It's how you live." Puppet sounded certain with her statement, and honestly...Eclipse believed it. Puppet was so smart, they've told him things he had no idea about. of course they'd be right!

"You're very special, Eclipse. And you have a very special thing in you..." Puppet told, her other hand patting Eclipse's head. Eclipse had never felt this way before, but it made his stomach feel warm and fuzzy. He liked this feeling, he wished it stayed. It made him feel less alone.

"...I don't understand why Sun and Moon say you're bad. You're nice to me..." Eclipse then said, lowering his knees from his chest. Puppet's fingers drummed ain't the floor. "Am I? Do Sun and Moon not treat you nicely?" She then asked, her stare starting to bore through Eclipse again.

The dark sun thought for a moment, shrinking down a little. "...I don't know if I can tell you that," Eclipse answered, his gaze shifting off of Puppet a little anxiously.

Puppet seemed a little...Less pleased. But, the smile never left her face. "Oh, is it a secret, then?" Puppet then asked, raising a finger to their lips again like they did before. Eclipse understood the gesture more now, nodding his head. Puppet's smile became a little warmer, "Well, I keep secrets really good...I'm the secret keeper, after all. You can tell me, Eclipse"

Oh...Well, if Puppet was the secret keeper, then surely he was able to tell them. Puppet was nice, anyway, why couldn't he tell her?

"...Moon hurts me sometimes. Sun tells me to stay out of his way and that I'm stupid." Eclipse answered, one lone ray twitching. Eclipse knew Sun said that because he didn't want to keep cleaning up oil. Eclipse thinks that's the black stuff that comes from inside him, but he's not sure. At least Puppet seemed to understand Eclipse's point. "Sun calls you that?" Puppet asked, their voice a little stale. Eclipse recognized that tone.

Eclipse nodded, his gaze shifting around the room now. "Mhm...But it's not dumb, so I think it's okay." He told, looking at Puppet with what could only be described as content.

Puppet then...Laughed. It was soft and she covered her mouth for the moment. "...Alright, Eclipse. I have a lot to teach you, don't I?"

"Teach?" Eclipse hadn't heard that word before, it was new. He's learning a lot of things today! Eclipse liked it when he was able to know things.

Puppet gave a sigh, but it didn't sound like she was upset. It still gave Eclipse a nice feeling. "You don't know what teaching means, either?" Puppet then asked, to which Eclipse shook his head. Puppet expected that.

"It's okay, bud, I'll help you."

Chapter Text

Puppet was gentle with Eclipse's heart.

Or-- It's also called 'the Star'. Puppet said it's working as Eclipse's heart, though. That it helped Eclipse gain consciousness.

Unfortunately, it did not make Eclipse all that smart. Sometimes Eclipse felt embarrassed looking back when he didn't wear clothes or used a word wrong...No wonder Moon hit him a lot, he was dumber than a rock.

Puppet said that wasn't Eclipse's fault, that neither Moon or Sun took the true time to teach him anything valuable outside of colors and walking.

Still, Eclipse missed Sun and Moon.

Eclipse missed his brothers.

Eclipse felt sorry, no matter how many times Puppet told Eclipse that the two deserved what had happened.

Eclipse didn't want to hurt anyone like that.

Puppet, on the other hand, seemed quite content with how violent Eclipse could be. Eclipse can't count how many times Puppet has praised Eclipse for that day. Eclipse doesn't understand why Puppet's so happy-- Eclipse hurt people!

...But then again, Puppet knew a lot. She probably had a perfect reason as to why she was happy.

But Eclipse didn't have a reason. So he wasn't happy.

Eclipse was sometimes scared when Puppet helped him with the Star stuff...He didn't want to hurt Puppet like he did Sun and Moon.

Puppet always told him the same response: 'I doubt you could obliterate me, Eclipse. I'm much stronger than you think!'

Eclipse could never disagree with Puppet. It's not that Puppet made it that way; Eclipse just agreed with Puppet most of the time. Even when he disagreed, he willingly followed Puppet anyway.

Sometimes Eclipse wonders if he's the real puppet here.

But then again, Puppet treated him so nicely. He's alright with being a puppet.

That, or Eclipse really is dumber than a pile of rocks.

"I...Don't know, Puppet, I don't think I can eat." Eclipse said with a sigh, rubbing his arm. He knew he couldn't eat. He's tried. If Eclipse's body rejected crayons, liquid glue, and a dead rat, he was pretty sure he couldn't eat.

Yet, here they were. Puppet had slapped some food onto the table-- Puppet said it was called mashed potatoes. Eclipse didn't see the potatoes, but he definitely saw the 'mashed'. It was white and sloppy looking. Not very appetizing, but it looked easy to eat.

Puppet rolled her eyes, "Just make yourself be able to eat!" They told Eclipse to do this as if it was a daily occurrence that Eclipse changed his physical capabilities. Eclipse was sad to say Puppet acted like this most of the time. "I-- Puppet I can't just do that!" Eclipse tried to reason-- Now that he knew what common sense was, he could distinguish what things he could and couldn't do...Most of the time.

...Okay, maybe it was sometimes, but some is better than none!

"Just absorb it!" Puppet exclaimed, pushing the plate closer to Eclipse. The dark sun was still so terribly confused. "What do you mean absorb it, I can't do that, either!" At least Eclipse didn't think he could absorb anything. Eclipse kind of knew what the word meant, but he didn't know if it was like...Those freaky homophones Puppet told him about.

Puppet only huffed at Eclipse's remark, "Yes you can!" They declared with clear determination, their hands shifting to their hips. "Absorb it like you did Sun and Moon's energy!" Puppet told, and suddenly, Eclipse froze.

"Wh-- I what...?"

Eclipse was so confused, but something about that sounded wrong.

Did he do that to Sun and Moon?

Is that how Eclipse killed them? By taking away their energy?

The marionette blinked. She ran over her response in her head...Yeah, maybe they shouldn't have told Eclipse that-- But it's not like he was never going to figure it out

Puppet nodded, stepping a little closer to Eclipse's side. "Yeah...You took away Sun and Moon's energy. That's why you were...More overwhelmed that day. You were overloaded with energy." Puppet then explained, placing a hand on Eclipse's shoulder.

God, Puppet had a feeling this situation was going to go South pretty quickly...She's desensitized to this kind of stuff, unlike Eclipse.

Eclipse was a very underdeveloped animatronic, meanwhile, Puppet was a murdered child-turned immortal being who has lived for a few decades across multiple dimensions-- Not that Eclipse is aware of...Well, most of this information. Eclipse doesn't know how evil Puppet really is, or what she's done just for revenge.

She honestly didn't know why she was so nice to Eclipse. Puppet's never spared anyone except...Those kids.

She didn't like thinking about that. Just as Eclipse didn't like thinking about Sun and Moon...Oh, Puppet sees the error in her judgment, now.

"I...Sucked them of their life?" Eclipse's voice sounded actually mortified. Puppet knew that tone of voice, she didn't want Eclipse to start crying now. "Well, yeah, but it's something that kind of just happens in the beginning--" For once, Eclipse cut Puppet off, as if he knew Puppet was going to sugarcoat this situation. He wasn't wrong. "I still killed them, Puppet...I can't..." Eclipse felt hot tears pool in his optics as he curled up. His hands feebly tugged at his rays.

And there were the waterworks...Puppet stared. She didn't know what to do. She hated when she didn't know what to do...

What's worse is that she's been through this before, and she still doesn't know how to solve this.

Puppet isn't all-knowing like Eclipse thinks they are, unfortunately.

"...Eclipse, you...You didn't do it purposely. We both know you didn't." Puppet started slowly, staying at Eclipse's side. Like always, they draped their arm fully around Eclipse. "You were afraid, you were going to be hurt. You wanted to defend yourself and you had no idea what you could really do with that Star." Puppet was normally never this serious. This was the first time Eclipse had ever seen her not smile. "It was all an accident, but if you learn how to control your...Powers...Then accidents won't happen, right?" Puppet then told, gently squeezing Eclipse's side.

Puppet didn't like calling the Star the equivalent of having powers...But, in a sense, it was. Plus, Eclipse seemed to understand the word 'power' rather than the complicated, mumbo-jumbo it really was.

Eclipse thought for a moment. Eclipse couldn't find a fault in Puppet's logic, it made sense, no matter how much the tiny voice in the back of Eclipse's head said he didn't deserve to be assured.

Sure, Eclipse couldn't fix the past, but he can prepare for the future.

Eclipse nodded in agreement. Puppet seemed happy with the response. "So...We just need to try the simpler stuff first then...We can come back to this later, okay?" Puppet shifted away, snagging the mashed potatoes. They didn't look that good anymore, honestly.

"Okay..." Eclipse answered, scooting back in his seat. Hopefully Puppet was right...But then again, she always was.

Chapter Text

"You like to play games, right, Eclipse?"

The smaller bot nods his head eagerly, "I do..." He said, shifting a little in his spot, "But, uhm...I can't play them since Sun and Moon are always gone..." Eclipse answered softly, his rays twitching.

Puppet's been visiting him a lot, telling him about all sorts of things he's never heard of before. It's like a big story to Eclipse! He likes hearing Puppet talk, it makes him feel less lonely.

Lately, Puppet has been teaching Eclipse things to do-- Like games. Puppet taught Eclipse how to play something called 'Tic-Tac-Toe'. Eclipse didn't get the name, yet he found it funny nonetheless. The rules were a little confusing, though, and Puppet typically won...But Eclipse liked drawing the board thing for the most part, anyway.

"Well, since I'm here, why don't we play a new game?" Puppet suggested rather proudly, her smile growing a little wider. There appeared to be a playful aura coming from them, Eclipse could kind of feel it. "Okay...What is it?" Eclipse asked, scooting closer to Puppet.

"It's called Hide and Seek. Have you heard of that game before?"

Oh, Eclipse knows that game! Sun tells him to play that game, and that they would come and find him, but they never end up coming to look for him.

Eclipse was good at Hide and Seek.

"I like Hide and Seek..." Eclipse answered with a small smile, his rays slowly starting to spin. Puppet let out a tiny chuckle, "Good, good...We're going to be playing this game a little differently, okay?" She explained, her tone was gentle and her voice was soft. Puppet said it was called 'whispering', and that was how Eclipse spoke. It made sense, Eclipse didn't talk very loud...He didn't like loud noises; Moon was often loud and that upset him.

But that wasn't the point, Puppet said they were going to play! Just...Differently. Eclipse kind of knows what that means. "Okay..." The dark sun said, though his voice lowered just a little more in slight confusion. What was going to change, and why?

Eclipse wasn't sure if he was allowed to ask, so he didn't...But he was pretty curious, still.

Puppet's smile widened just a little more as she stuck a hand in her pocket-- She had recently acquired this black coat, she called it a 'lab coat'...But it looked oddly similar to the one Moon sometimes. Eclipse just chose not to question that one. Anyway, Puppet had pulled out something tiny. Just a little box.

"Are you good at hiding, Eclipse?" Puppet then asked, to which Eclipse excitedly nodded. He was so good at hiding, that he bet Puppet would never be able to find him if he hid!

...Though, then he wouldn't be able to see Puppet. Eclipse didn't want to hide from Puppet.

It was truly funny, to Puppet on the other hand. No matter how much Eclipse may try to hide, she'd always find him.

She wasn't always sure why she cared so much about knowing where Eclipse was, but it didn't matter.

Puppet took Eclipse's hand, placing the little box into the smaller's hand, "That's great, I know you'll do so good for me..." She praised, closing Eclipse's hand. Her grip was just a little tight. "I need you to hide this, okay? Can you do that?" Puppet then asked, her voice just the slightest bit more serious.

She could see the slight confusion on Eclipse's face. Puppet honestly expected that. "I can hide it...But who's going to look for it?" Eclipse then asked, shiting to sit more on his knees as he took another peek at the little box in his hands. It was so small that Eclipse could hide it in so many places! But...Why? Not that Eclipse wasn't happy to play, no, he liked to play...It just didn't make sense to him.

Thankfully, Puppet was very willing to answer Eclipse. "Sun and Moon are the seekers, but you can't tell them about the box or where you hid it...That would ruin the game." She told, bringing a finger to her lips. Eclipse knew that was a silent signal for 'secret keeping' now...And to be quiet, but Puppet mostly used the former.

Eclipse was pretty good at keeping secrets now, too. He hasn't told Sun and Moon anything about Puppet, just like she asked him not to! (Eclipse didn't want Puppet to go away, she was his third friend, and she actually hung out with him...Sun and Moon would take him away from her. That's what Puppet said.)

"Okay, Puppet...I won't tell," Eclipse seemed much more proud now, which elicited yet another chuckle from Puppet. "Is that a pinky promise, then?" Puppet then asked poking at one of Eclipse's rays, only to see his confused stare yet again.

"What's a pinky promise?"

~~~

"Moon...I-I don't know, Eclipse has been acting weird," Sun said with a slight sigh. Moon didn't even bat an eye, he didn't turn to look at Sun. He didn't care, yet...Sun still thought it'd be a good idea to mention it. "What, is he still spitting up crayons?" Moon spat back with a huff, his eyes still glued to the computer in front of him as if it were some kind of lifeline.

Sun, who had been cleaning the barrels as he was talking, had set the things to the side for once in his life. "No-- I don't know why you'd do such a thing to him anyway, Moon." Sun's tone was a little grumbly, his rays nervously twitching as he thought back to how Eclipse was uncontrollably spitting up that...Goo.

On the other hand, Moon seemed more phased by Sun's tone. "Watch your mouth...Don't think I won't grab that whacking stick." The lunar model threatened, finally sparing some pathetic glance to his solar companion. That shut Sun up before inevitably sighed. "...Please, Moon. I know you don't like Eclipse, neither do I. He's dumber than a slug." Sun walked around the counter as he spoke, his voice was just a little more gentle. "But Eclipse has been...Learning things. Things we've never told him about." Sun finally saw Moon pause his words. They actually were processing what Sun had said...

"What do you mean?" Moon then asked, seeming to take this situation much more seriously after hearing what Sun had said.

Finally, Moon is listening...

Sun shifted on his feet, his hands fidgeting together. It was weird to have Moon pay attention to him so genuinely. "Well...Eclipse knows what clothes are, he keeps asking me for pants...I'm considering just giving him one of my spares at this point." Sun said with a shrug, his gaze shifting away as he spoke. "And Eclipse has been talking about fairytales! I doubt you've talked to him about Cinderella because I sure haven't..." Moon at least took what Sun said into account, as he was clearly thinking over what he had said.

Eventually, Moon gave a tiny hum, "...Are you sure Eclipse hasn't found any books in the bunker? We do use it for backup storage..." Sun was almost surprised by Moon's voice lowering, seeing them use the gentle voice they often did with the children in the Daycare.

It was a pretty damn weird feeling, Moon didn't talk with Sun like this.

"Moon, it's the only bunker you let me go in, and I know when things are out of place. Eclipse hasn't touched anything." Sun answered, folding his arms. It was more so to reassure himself, to know that things were okay for now. "...If none of that takes the cake, Moon, Eclipse knows that 'dumb', 'stupid', and 'idiot' are all bad words now." He then told, his rays slowly starting to spin as he saw Moon's reaction.

The lunar animatronic paused again, this was going to be a long night already, wasn't it?

Moon sucked in a breath he knew he didn't need. It was the thought that counted. "...There's a slight chance that Eclipse's systems are slowly starting to learn from the environment like they were intended to...But Eclipse wasn't a finished model, he was scrapped." Honestly, Sun didn't feel too much better after hearing Moon's response. Moon wasn't too hopeful either on that idea. "Without the Star, Eclipse wouldn't exist in the first place...And I doubt it can just magically make Eclipse's systems work the way he had no idea it was meant to." Moon leaned against the desk, completely ignoring the computer now.

"Do you think Puppet...?" Sun trailed off...He didn't want to think that Puppet had managed to find Eclipse. "No, I don't think so." Finally, a sigh of relief came from Sun. Moon wasn't too surprised by the response. "I have that bunker rigged with security. I don't have cameras, but magic works a hell of a lot better considering how Puppet just...Disappears when in contact with cameras." Moon then explained, his fingers drumming against the counter as he thought. All of what Moon was saying was a big load off of Sun's shoulders...

"Plus, I have voice recordings of what goes on in the bunker. We'll look at the recent activity in a little bit, okay, Sun?"

Recordings...Yeah, okay. That would settle Sun's nerves. And Moon's...Everything was going to be okay.

"Yeah, okay..." Sun answered with a nod, placing a hand over his brothers.

It was going to be okay.

Hopefully.

Chapter Text

Puppet was used to moving around a lot. She never usually stayed in one dimension for too long, mostly so certain people couldn't follow her trail...

But then she found Eclipse.

Puppet easily decided to stick to a semi-dead dimension. There was little population, and the universe itself was rather obscure on the dimensional scale. While Puppet would typically not want to be in such a dimension as it was 'boring'...It was also very safe.

Eclipse would be safe.

That was quite a weird thing for Puppet to care about, in all honesty. She had never cared about anyone's safety before, especially not her own, and most certainly not her original dimension's. She was reckless and vengeful. If Puppet wanted something, then she'd get it.

She certainly got Eclipse in the end, despite it being unintentional.

And now that she had Eclipse, her little 'right-hand man', (It's been quite a while since she's used that label. Puppet wonders how Foxy is doing...) she's begun to notice some odd behaviors.

For starters, Eclipse had this tendency to watch Puppet. Not that it was a problem, it was just that...No one stared at her so intently. Or with such a blank stare. Eclipse also didn't purvey much emotion, either, though that's a similarity Puppet's noticed in all Eclipse's.

Even the good ones.

Nevertheless, Puppet can't help but notice how Eclipse stares at her-- Even now, as she is looking over some blueprints. She had snagged them from some creepy Sun. Apparently, it was something called a 'Dark Matter Generator'. Puppet didn't entirely trust the weird-ass Sun, but the blueprints were interesting, at least.

Though, Puppet found it hard to focus with Eclipse staring at her. Eclipse was always a big thinker, or at least now he always was. Eclipse was so much more anxious now than when Puppet first met him.

Perhaps ignorance really is bliss.

"You alright, bud?" Puppet spoke up abruptly, turning to look back at Eclipse, who appeared to only tune into the situation at that moment. "...I'm fine, just fine." Eclipse mumbled back, yanking on his sleeve as he shifted his gaze away. The most common reaction Puppet gets whenever she asks if Eclipse is okay.

Eclipse isn't the best liar in the world, though, Puppet preferred it that way.

Puppet faced Eclipse fully, leaning against the desk she was working at. "You're super sure? You don't feel icky or anything?" Maybe Puppet was just overthinking it herself, especially since she also knows Eclipse lacks the spine not to answer her.

Eclipse nods quickly after she speaks, staring at her with the same innocent eyes he always had. "Yeah...I'm just looking." Eclipse says, one of his rays twitching.

Puppet didn't think Eclipse could lock his rays into place like the other Sun's and Eclipse's could. Puppet had to admit it was a rather cute habit, seeing Eclipse's rays spin when he's excited or seeing his rays retract when he's scared. There were many other examples Puppet could use, probably too many to actually count.

"You mean watching?" Puppet corrected, her smile growing wider. Eclipse nodded again with a tiny hum, "Mhm, that word..." He agreed, his hands folding together just below his waist as his eyes glanced from Puppet and the blueprint on the desk.

Puppet knew Eclipse wasn't too good with blueprints...But Eclipse had a rather great way of pointing random things out that Puppet had glossed over. While smart, Puppet was rather overzealous. If she didn't see something that interested her or blatantly knew was important, she didn't care about it.

Sometimes Eclipse set her straight, believe it or not.

Puppet thinks now is a nice to let Eclipse join. It's not like she'll get much done with him standing there like a statue, anyway. Puppet will only get distracted. "Do you want to know what I'm doing?" Puppet asked, gesturing to the blueprint on the table. She doubted Eclipse could read most of it, even with all the words she has taught him...But Puppet was sure Eclipse would be happy to 'help', still.

"...Yes, please." Eclipse said, stepping over to stand besides Puppet. There was a shy smile on his face now, which only made Puppet's smile grow a little wider.

Puppet liked staying here with Eclipse.

~~~

Puppet wasn't that patient, she got bored easily when she wasn't entertained.

And if she wasn't entertained, she got angry. Very angry.

However, Puppet could never manage to find herself bored when with Eclipse. She also found herself being...Much more lenient with her anger. Puppet had no interest in hurting Eclipse, she had no interest in being angry at Eclipse.

Why, if Puppet didn't know any better, she'd assume Eclipse was turning her soft.

Puppet has killed many people without a second thought, even with Eclipse in her life. She loved the thrill it gave her. She's even killed others while with Eclipse in her presence.

Thank God Eclipse is a good listener, he always covered his eyes when things got too messy for Puppet.

What? She'd prefer Eclipse to not take totally after her, he's much too fragile at the moment.

Fragile...Yeah, Eclipse was very fragile. Puppet knew why, too. Moon's anger really did a number on Eclipse-- Maybe that's why Puppet disliked displaying anger towards Eclipse. Moon had some real anger issues, and typically, because Eclipse was just the 'dumb' one, he was Moon's punching bag.

That also meant Eclipse was terrified of making mistakes. If he made a mistake, Moon would get mad, and if Moon got mad, Eclipse would get hurt. It was a very simple chain reaction Eclipse learned too quickly.

It actually made Puppet quite depressed to think about.

Thankfully, she wasn't thinking about it. In fact, she had just finished handling a rather gruesome situation!

...To her, gruesome was a wonderous term. She was sure most would disagree with her outlook, however. Apparently, normal people don't find absorbing life essence fun.

Does Puppet really care?

The answer is a rather obvious no.

Puppet had strolled into her and Eclipse's 'home', as she called it. In reality, it was technically an abandoned facility, but for Eclipse's sake, she called it their house. Puppet believed explaining to Eclipse what a science lab is would be a little too hard for him to understand just yet.

Eclipse will get there, eventually.

"Eclipse!" Puppet called out, her tone filled with the same energy she had originally left with. She was confident, and quite frankly, she felt rather proud of herself. Most called her arrogant, but she preferred the term 'self-assured'.

...Although, something felt different as Puppet entered the next room. It felt dimmer.

Normally, Eclipse would've called back by now, or at least come running over to her like an excited child would.

For a minute, Puppet felt confused. The atmosphere felt gloomy, like there had been more dust than the last time she left, or somehow the lights were slowly starting to burn out. As she walked through the hall, it felt almost too long. The pace felt gruelling and the uneasiness dawned on her.

She sent out a pulse, a calmer one than the usual warm and direct ones she gave. Eclipse never failed to respond to it. In fact, Puppet didn't think Eclipse really knew he was responding to her.

Being directly connected had its perks, Puppet supposed.

She was hoping Eclipse would send back his usual pulse, the one that felt so sincere yet loving. Puppet loved how Eclipse's pulses made her feel at ease for a moment, and she knew for a fact that Eclipse felt the same way. He always relaxed whenever Puppet sent out a pulse, no matter how far away she was.

Puppet's hope was quickly squished when she instead felt an even worse, dreadful feeling wash over her.

Suddenly she was moving faster than she thought she could, navigating through a few rooms before she had opened the door to her work room.

She felt relieved when she saw Eclipse standing in there, though, her worries were still hanging heavy over her as Eclipse turned back to face her. They locked eyes, staring at each other silently. Unlike Puppet, who's face was frozen in her typical smile

Another pulse wafted off of Eclipse, and it made Puppet's stomach churn in a way she hadn't felt before. A part of her almost burned with anger at seeing the little tears prick in Eclipse's eyes.

She wasn't mad because Eclipse was upset, no she'd never be mad for Eclipse expressing his feelings. (Hell, he does it better than she does herself.) She was mad because Eclipse felt upset at all.

Eclipse shouldn't have to feel sad, he should feel happy and safe! Puppet was there to protect him--

Unless...Something happened while she was gone.

Did someone find Eclipse?

Did someone hurt Eclipse?

...Why does she care so much?

"Eclipse, are you okay?" Puppet forced her voice to level out, making herself calm for the moment. Puppet never had to keep herself in check like this before Eclipse. In fact, Puppet often lets her emotions run her actions. (There were many casualties because of this face.) However, Eclipse was a very fragile thing. She would hate to scare Eclipse when he already seems ready to shrivel up and die.

Eclipse stared at her, his face frozen in...Fear.

What was scaring him so much?

Puppet took another step closer, sending another calming pulse out to Eclipse. She just needed to get Eclipse settled down. "...Eclipse are you hurt?" She then asked, hopefully being able to convey her worry. God, it felt so weird to be anxious like this. She didn't know how Eclipse could handle feeling this way all the time.

Eclipse slowly shook his head. "...No." He answered, watching as Puppet once again stepped closer. "Then what's wrong?" Puppet asked, watching as Eclipse's weight shifted from foot to foot, nervous as can be. "...I-I broke that thing." Eclipse's gaze shifted, and his finger pointed to a stray, musky red toolbox that seemed to no longer have a handle.

Puppet stared at the toolbox, processing the situation for the moment.

Eclipse was on the verge of tears because he had broken the toolbox.

(God, fuck Moon and Sun.)

That toolbox was a piece of crap that Foxy made. It was a petty steal, nothing more. It was a little funny that the toolbox of all things had broke, the item was practically meaningless to Puppet, but it's not like Eclipse knew that. He made it a much greater deal than it truly was.

Puppet gently grasped Eclipse's hand, forcing herself to laugh, "It was already broken, silly," She told in her normal voice, despite knowing how upset Eclipse was. She didn't want Eclipse to know what she was really feeling.

She really wasn't mad at Eclipse, he did nothing wrong. She was just more caught up on other things.

"There's no need to cry over such a useless thing!" Puppet then told, hoping Eclipse would accept her words at face value in the meantime. She was mostly concerned with cheering Eclipse up right now. "R-Really?" Eclipse asked, his voice shaky. He knew he should've known better than to go into Puppet's workspace...But now that he had Puppet's reassurance, he felt a little better. "Yeah, it didn't matter, anyway!" Puppet answered, raising Eclipse's hand, "Besides, I just came back and I got a crazy story to tell you!" She heard a sniffle erupt from Eclipse, seeing him use his free hand to wipe away the slight tears in his eyes. He looked a little curious now. 

Puppet was glad she could get him distracted. "...W-What happened?" Eclipse then mumbled, his free hand picking at the end of his shirt, now.

It was a good thing story times cheered Eclipse up...

~~~

Puppet couldn't explain this one, not in the slightest, but Eclipse enjoyed sitting on the floor.

Puppet couldn't understand why, either...What was the point? The floor wasn't exactly the best place to sit, in Puppet's opinion, it was uncomfortable. It was strange to Puppet that Eclipse could even manage to sleep on the floor...However, Puppet doubted Sun and Moon ever provided proper bedding in the first place. She's certainly never seen a bed in that little bunker where they kept Eclipse.

In fact, seeing Eclipse sit or lie on the floor actually annoyed her. She never stopped Eclipse from doing it, though. Eclipse liked it, so she let him sit on the floor.

At night, Eclipse was with Puppet, so she didn't have to worry about the possibility of Eclipse somehow trying to sleep on the floor.

But now, as Puppet worked, Eclipse sat beside her, on the floor, by her legs. At some point, Eclipse had laid his head against Puppet's left leg, not that Puppet knew why Eclipse did that, either. It was a sweet gesture, at least she believed so.

Puppet wasn't really used to positive attention and affection. Not even the fuzzy memories of her human life were anything positive. Actually, they were negative. After all, normally people just want Puppet dead!

...But Eclipse didn't want her dead. Eclipse told Puppet that he didn't want to live without her.

Something about that statement made Puppet's chest ache in an unpleasant way...

"...Eclipse, you know there are extra chairs, right?" Puppet asked, her hand shifting to pat Eclipse on the head, ruffling his rays in the process. Eclipse glanced up, shrugging a little as he spoke, "I know..." He answered, his head tilting further as he stared underneath the desk. Puppet stared with him for a moment, not seeing anything too special.

Eclipse was silent for a moment before he turned his his head to fully look at Puppet. "...This reminds me of when I'd watch Moon work." The dark sun then blurted out, watching as Puppet's eyes stared intently at Eclipse upon the confession. "...Did you like watching Moon work?" She asked, unsure if Eclipse was sharing a ond or sore memory with her.

The marionette watched as her friend nodded, "Yeah...Moon didn't like playing or talking with me all that much, so he just let me watch him work." Eclipse admitted, his head turning to look back underneath the desk.

Huh. You'd think Eclipse would learn a thing or to if he watched Moon work, but it seems that he hasn't.

"You let me help you, though, so it's a lot more fun being with you." Puppet couldn't help but laugh at Eclipse's statement, smirking as she ruffled his rays again, "Another reason why I'm so much better than you're so-called brothers," Puppet exclaimed cockily, feeling a sense of pride at Eclipse's admission.

Eclipse smiled a little more as Puppet once again messed with his rays. This attention was still new, but Eclipse found he really enjoyed it.

Puppet enjoyed giving him attention just as much.

~~~

Puppet didn't need to sleep. As long as she could properly sustain herself with the right energy, Puppet could be awake for days on end.

Sure, sleeping was normal sometime in the past, but that was at least a hundred or so years ago. (And that wasn't counting the change in time while she hopped dimensions; one hundred was just an estimate.) The years started to get fuzzy, and so did the details. Puppet preferred not to remember, anyway; thinking so far back hurt her head.

Although...Sleeping did become a consistent thing for her with Eclipse around.

Unlike Puppet, sleeping was relatively normal for Eclipse. For Eclipse to charge, he needed to sleep. Of course, Eclipse didn't technically need to charge; his body ran solely on star power. But Eclipse was— What? Maybe a year and a half old? There was no way Eclipse's body was used to running on star power compared to Puppet, who had lived longer than the whole Fazbear chain.

Puppet was sure that in the past, she needed sleep to properly work as well, but Puppet was also...Well, a puppet. She probably slept a lot more in the past than Eclipse.

Though, when Puppet thought of sleep, she thought of her music box.

That was one of the few things she vividly remembers.

She still loved "My Grandfather's Clock". Did she still have that music box?

Puppet was getting off track-- Eclipse could sleep, but he didn't like to sleep alone. Puppet didn't mind sharing a bed with him. A bed was much better than a box, anyway.

And she got to keep close eye on Eclipse.

"Eclipse, are you done?" Puppet called out impatiently, twirling her hair a little. Eclipse said he wanted to do something before they got in bed, but he didn't really tell her what. Puppet could hear a soft sigh come from the other room, making Puppet's slight impatience rise, even as she smirked.

After a moment, Puppet watched as Eclipse relunctantly entered the room, uninentionally sending Puppet a exhuasted pulse. "I tried untying my bow..." Eclipse mumbled, glancing away as Puppet inspected the thoroughly knotted bow obscured in a way Puppet had neevr seen before.

The sight made Puppet snicker. "I can see...C'mere, bud." She told, gesturing him closer to undo the ruined knot with her nimble fingers, somehow managing to easily release Eclipse's neck from the ribbon.

Eclipse watched with what Puppet wanted to describe was a pout. "How do you do it so easily?" He asked, watching as Puppet placed the ribbon down onto the night stand. The room was pretty barren aside from the bed and night stand.

The two weren't in here enough to do much else. Not that Eclipse would know what to put in here, anyway. Eclipse knew a lot more than he did in the past, but he was really adversed in furniture. Neither was Puppet, to be honest.

"Oh, you'll get it eventually, Eclipse. It's like how you learned to button up your shirts on your own!" Puppet exclaimed, plopping down onto the bed as Eclipse thought. A small hum left him, the gears in his head turning. "...I guess that makes sense." Eclipse agreed after a moment, crawling up into the bed.

Eclipse used to need help with quite a few things, but he's been getting better! Puppet has taught him so much, a lot more than Sun and Moon ever taught him!

Eclipse had to say he favorited Puppet a little...But he didn't say that out loud, he still missed his brothers.

Puppet watched as Eclipse lied down, thinking for a good moment as she made the lights dim. Eclipse never questioned her magic, he was much too used to it by now.

The marionette finally laid beside Eclipse, pulling the covers over them both. Eclipse scooted closer, his arm wrapping  around Puppet's stomach. Puppet shifted, turning her body to do the same to Eclipse. They held each other in silence, Eclipse's eyes closing as Puppet watched him.

"...Are you comfortable?" Puppet asked, her voice hushed now. It was bedtime, here was no need to use her loud voice. "I am..." Eclipse answered, his eyes staying closed for the moment, his lips barely curling up into a smile. Puppet was glad Eclipse could be this happy around here.

Maybe he was turning her soft.

Puppet's hand shifted, rubbing Eclipse's side for a moment. "You're sure? I know that shirt can get a little annoying to wear." The shirt was rather old, Puppet had found it on a whim, and thought Eclipse would like wearing it. He really felt like her little helper sometimes. "...Actually, would you like a pair of pajamas, Eclipse?" Puppet then inquired curiously, raising an eyebrow.

Eclipse slowly opened his eyes, seeming to think. "Those are sleeping clothes, right...?" He asked, his soft glowing eyes illuminating each other's face as they whispered. Eclipse sometimes enjoyed listening to Puppet talk before bed, it makes him sleepy. "Mhm," Puppet hummed happily, shifting the blanket up further. They both enjoyed being warm. "I could probably find you some, 'Clipsey."

A bubbly feeling arised in Eclipse's stomach. Sometimes it felt like Puppet offered Eclipse the world. Puppet would argue that Eclipse had simply just not been allowed to experience gifts at all, though. "You don't have to do that...I'm fine and comfy." Eclipse reassured, shifting a little closer.

"Alright..." Puppet said, though her gaze shifted away. She was already thinking of how to get Eclipse a pair of pajamas. She was sure he would like it. It could also be an interesting experience for her, its been quite a long time since she had gotten into pajamas either.

Eclipse's rays twitched, the smile still barely on his face as his eyes closed once again.

He ignored the vague, distant images that flashed in his blackened vision.

He still saw Sun and Moon ever night. Puppet helped make the scary thoughts go away. She always warded of his nightmares.

Puppet always protected him.

He was grateful or her.

Puppet was just as grateful for Eclipse.

She found she sort of enjoyed these mundane things now. It had been forever since she had come home to someone, wanting to hear their voice and feel their touch.

After Foxy, Puppet never thought she'd be close to anyone ever again.

But as ironic as it is, here she held Eclipse in her arms, someone who never wanted to leave her side.

Puppet knew she didn't deserve Eclipse, and she was so selfish for keeping him to herself. She could admit that whole-heartedly. That wouldn't mean she'd let Eclipse go.

He was her shining star, and she didn't think she'd find a more loving hearted person than the one she's holding.

For once in a long time, Puppet easily dozes off, Eclipse following soon after.

Tomorrow was another day.

Chapter Text

Alright, so this fic hasn't been updated in like...A long time.

NO THIS FIC ISN'T GOING TO ACTUALLY BE DISCONTINUED!!-- Uhh at least not in the way you're initially thinking...

Personally, I do not like how I executed this. The first chapter, if it were stand-alone, like how I originally imagined it, would've been fine...Until I fleshed it out and made it an actual AU. Obviously, after so much time, I've envisioned this AU a certain way, and my writing for it has aged like milk in my opinion. I liked my ideas and concepts, but there is also a TON of grammatical errors and mistakes I've made, and I do not think it represents the quality of my work now.

This has also led me to my decision to simply rewrite and tweak this work. Essentially, I'm remastering this work.

Because of my choice, this specific version of the work will be discontinued. I'll be making a new work with the same title, with already written chapters fixed up and mixed in.

(Yes, I'm about to go into a whole rant, skip until after the indention if you don't want a detailed criticism/explanation of this work from the author + some spoilers...)

The new version will probably be written in a different order from this work, as that's one of the things I feel I didn't do that well with. If it wasn't obvious, I wanted this story to be set in the present-- AKA, when Puppet and Eclipse are together without Sun and Moon's involvement (Would it be a spoiler to add 'yet' when it hasn't been incorporated into the story as of now...?) with flashback chapters to explain Eclipse's past and how Puppet had formed a bond with him. I also wanted to show Puppet's past with Foxy, who has only been mentioned a few times in the very last chapter I posted.

I think I had the right idea, but I simply didn't do it in a good way. Looking over the chapters, it feels kind of just...Confusing? Especially without the context of the summaries I wrote, I don't think it was very blatant about what I wanted here. I've also made some big changes to Eclipse during the development of this AU, and I don't think the first chapter does justice to how I want Eclipse to be portrayed. In the first chapter, Eclipse exhibits knowledge on a basic level, but in the other chapters, he degrades even lower than this, not only because of the flashbacks, but because of the writing choices I made, and simply forgot to tie them in later.

To simplify, I do not believe I displayed Eclipse's intelligence and how he learns properly. I also do not believe I have written how Eclipse expresses himself and his emotions correctly, either. At least not in the way I envision him now.

I think similarly with how I wrote Puppet, whom I've recently been thinking and developing more as a character, and believe I didn't write her with the same motives I do now. Puppet, at least I think from first glance when reading over my work, is literally the definition of chaos hiding behind the mask of joy when they're clearly heartless and want to hurt people. While yes, Puppet is meant to be considered heartless from the beginning, I think I give her too much credit. (If that is the right word to use...) Puppet, while trying to be the villain, isn't actually the true antagonist of the story (At least not between Eclipse, Sun, and Moon) and I feel as though I made that fact a little too blatant. In other words, I do not believe I gave her the proper character developement in the first few chapters to exemplify how she changes like I had later planned for this story.

This fanfic has also gone through multiple important story changes. Originally, I had fully intended this fic to intertwine into the main timeline for The Eclipse and Puppet Show, specifically before Puppet died. I had revolved this whole story around this idea while TEAPS was still a running show, especially near when Eclipse was being mimicked. Clearly, I didn't really get to that part of the story. This is because as I made changes to the AU, while I do still plan to incoporate the TEAPS dimension a little, I have obviously moved past this as the main story. I think as a seperate work, Star AU and TEAPS could be a good story however, and I'm sure I will do this eventually, but not for the plot of this story. Meaning I had to scrap a lot of elements that would've further described Eclipse and Puppet in this story.

The story I had decided on for Eclipse was that he isn't a regular Eclipse, and is instead powered by the star specifically-- Intended to be a vessel for Moon to use the star with-- And was not made by Moon's Killcode. I do not believe I really set this idea up well. This fact will not change at all, but again, my execution was not that good and I believe I need to add a lot more context to this fact, especially since the star is a big plot point, as it's referenced mutliptle times and I've used the term 'heart' as a constant metaphor for the star and Eclipse. This will be elaborated on in the new work.

Puppet's story is meant to be not delved into right away, but she is meant to be an alternate version (Or interpertation for what I have for an actual villain Puppet rather than the Puppetmaster) Puppet who is older, much less sane, and doesn't have the same morals that Puppet does. Her trauma envelopes her, and she becomes erratic and power hungry, only wanting to do things for herself after freeing herself from the ties in her dimension and slowly begins to forget about her human life. Originally, I had wanted to implement the idea of Puppet having the missing children with her, which also scrapped and changed to her constantly having hallucinations of the missing children that would slowly die down with her time spent with Eclipse. This was because she had destroyed her home dimension by leaving it in a similar sense as to what happen in Puppet's dimension. Eclipse is supposed to be what makes her want to change, and want to feel morality like he does, which aids to her character developement and growing care to Eclipse. I believe I will add this in the new work, or at least attempt to the best of my ability, as I think it will geniunely help Puppet's character.

Puppet's story does not stop there, however, as she is still involved with Foxy and Monty. This element will not change, but I have also not gotten to it in this yet, so I will not go into it that much. Puppet's relationship with Foxy is very tainted, and Foxy's Monty is kind of out of the picture now. Puppet may have been a little brash...So, this Monty will not be present in the story aside from flashbacks. Sun and Moon's Monty will be present on the contrary.

Another important thing was this story was originally intended to be a queerplatonic clippet story. This was basically my way of NOT admitting that I shipped clippet because...I don't know, pressure, I suppose? At the time, I had still not fully opened to the idea of being allowed to ship whatever I want. This was a little before I had accepted I can do whatever the hell I want and shouldn't have to put myself to other people's standards just to not get beat down on. Anyways, behind closed doors, I had always viewed this story in a very romantic light between Eclipse and Puppet, but considering how childish (For lack of a better word) Eclipse can be percieved, I didn't want to go forward and say I was actually shipping them.

Looking back, I do think it was kind of obvious that there were romantic elements between them, though, even without ouright saying it. Like, for example, the fact the two geniunely sleep together every night. I wrote about how Eclipse enjoyed LITERALLY enjoying being treateed similarly to a pet, and wanting to rest his head in her lap. The cherry on top is that if you read the chapter talking about this stuff, and think about it...Yeah, you can see what I mean, right? I mean, if you read between the lines, you'll even realize Puppet was helping Eclipse get dressed for most of the work. I don't know why I was so down low on this fact, honestly, because in regards to the work, it makes total sense, but I simply didn't want to be judged by that fact because I shipped them.

I think this was a big issue in regards to the plot and the story because I'm not writing what I want. Why should I care about the story in the first place when I already not doing what I'd like to? Do ya'll smell what I'm stepping in here?

Anyway, I intend to make the new version directly a love story, but most likely more on the slowburn aspect because I don't think Eclipse and Puppet's relationship can just be cooked overnight lmao...

On a sillier note, I had always intended for Eclipse to have some kind of gender awakening in the story, but was never quite sure where to put it. I wanted Eclipse to think into his identity, how he feels, and how he wants to present himself now that he has the freedom to. I still plan to do this, because I can never unsee Eclipse liking presenting himself as both a girl and a boy. I just can't decided what label Eclipse would like best, or if I will even label him at all. As of now, I have the idea of bigender or genderfluid in mind, but this could also change as I continue to write this story.

And if you're wondering, no, I don't actually hate this work. I think for what it is and for how long ago I started writing it, I actually did really good. This fic was one of the things that helped me open up to the idea of being more open with what I ship and the stories I want to write for ships. This one of the big steps that helped me realize being proship ISNT horrible and I'm allowed to write whatever I desire. (That, and my lord and savior froffersthegrog...i love their works so much they're one of my favorite AO3 authors and inspirations, please go read their works!!) I just believe I can do a lot better with this story, and I should put the effort into recreating it, instead of just trying to fix this specifically.

holy smokes thats a lot of yapping about a work that technically isn't gonna be updated for a bit...if you read all of that im very proud of you for listening to my insane rambling 😭

also shameless plug for my TSBS proship server gang !! if you wanna join, just ask and ill drop the link lmao, we're all super nice and friendly !!!

i might get some beta readers or smth if i think this work is special enough and ppl actually want to do it...if i do ill ask people on the server :)