Chapter Text
What had he done in life for it to get turned into this shitshow.
Was it because of his cowardice? Was it because he was as horrible as his parents said? Maybe he hadn’t been as good of a person as he thought he had been. Or was this some sort of punishment for not finding Lewis in time? Maybe if he did, Lewis wouldn’t have died and everyone would’ve been happy.
(That’s what it is, right? That’s what it has to be.)
Lewis disappeared. He died. He comes back as a ghost. He’s angry at Arthur for not finding him quick enough. He’s angry because Arthur didn’t try hard enough. Arthur was supposed to be his best friend. But now he’s dead. So he came back to return the favor, a punishment for disappointment.
But if Arthur was supposed to die, then what was he doing in bed?
He couldn’t move his head to see around the room or to check what day it was, but the sight of his ceiling with the sticky glowing stars above left a sense of familiarity in him.
It was when his body started to move seemingly on its own accord Arthur began to panic.
This wasn’t right, right? Why was he moving but not of his own volition. His body was going through the motions but his mind was somewhere else entirely. He couldn’t even scream.
Then another voice joined his own, but wasn’t that his voice too? He couldn’t listen to it clearly unless he focused, was it the same the other way around?
(Was his punishment being reduced to a screaming mass of thoughts trapped in his own head?)
All Arthur could recall was something Vivi had told him when he wasn’t fully listening, too busy tinkering with his arm. That sometimes people would one day suddenly just be…more. That something would happen and a strong will would send their soul back to their bodies at a previous time to change the outcome or whatever. Two souls of one person possessing the same body.
(It never lasted more than a day at most, and it made zero sense; having two souls in one body but they’re both you, but it’s the best bet Arthur had.)
He hadn’t realized he’d been lost in thought until his own mouth yelled out and a strong feeling of panicpanicpaniCPANICPANIC entered his mind that he realized exactly why his younger self had been yelling.
He was staring into a mirror, but instead of his normal reflection, what stared back was a ghost much like Lewis had been (oh god what had happened to Lewis while he’d been missing?).
The ghost in the mirror just looked so tired. Even with a skull for a face he still had bags under his eye sockets. He was dressed in an informal suit, and his prosthetic had been replaced by what appeared to be some sort of electricity? Oh, and his star pin was now a swirling mix of magenta and blue. It would’ve been a lot cooler is it wasn’t floating in front of a hole that had been ripped through his chest.
When he tried to move once again, the reflection followed. Huh. Well, that’s interesting.
“Wh-what?!” His younger self—god if he’s gonna be stuck like this he has to think of a better name for him than that—yelped. He was pressed against the bathroom door, doorknob pushing uncomfortably against his spine.
The ghost just sighed. This might as well happen.
This time as he spoke the words echoed out into the bathroom.
“Shit, uhhh, fuck. Wish I had any time to figure out what to say before this. Okay so before I try and figure out any of what’s going on can you show me what the date is?” The reflection cringed at his voice, it was distorted and sounded like static.
Arthur, now feeling much more awake than he had at first, blindly groped for his phone on the bathroom counter. He dared a quick glance at the phone screen, tearing Ghost Arthur’s eyes away from his reflection.
The time was 12:17 on October 25, 2014.
(This was the day before he lost his arm.
This was the day before he lost Lewis.
This was the day before Vivi forgot Lewis existed.
This was the day before everything went to shit. )
Ghost Arthur didn’t even realize that in the reflection his anchor cracked, or that his hair and arm were sparking wildly.
Now Arthur was low key freaking out. First off, he wakes up with a killer headache, then he goes to pop some aspirin or whatever but instead he sees a dead guy in the mirror who’s now having a panic attack for some reason? He didn’t even say anything yet!
This morning was definitely in the top 3 of weird mornings for him.
So naturally, Arthur did what he usually did when confronted with supernatural shit outside of Mystery Skulls. He called Vivi.
Ghost Arthur, realizing just what was happening, started to panic even more. But it was too late, Vivi already picked up.
“Morning Artie! Not that I’m ungrateful, but why are you calling so early-“
“Oh my god Vivi I need you to come here right fucking now there’s a ghost in my mirror and he’s panicking and I’m panicking and bring Lewis and Mystery with you holy fuCK-“
With a brief moment of immense willpower Ghost Arthur took control of his body and flung the phone out of his hands.
Present Arthur felt conflicted. On one hand, he was freaking the fuck out because there’s a ghost in his mirror and the feeling of having control ripped from his body was very unnerving. On the other hand, this asshole ghost just threw his phone!
So instead of doing anything—mostly because he couldn’t really, he had no idea how to get control back of his fucking body—he just yelled out.
“HEY! What was that for?!” He glared into the mirror as this guy used his body to reach for his phone. (Oh my god this is so fucking weird what the fuck What The Fuck.)
“Arthur? Arthur what’s going on?!!”
“Don’t worry about it, Vi” The static voice answered, closing the call and shutting off the phone.
The ghost didn’t look any calmer than before, but his arm and hair weren’t sparking as much as they were so that was something.
“Look,” The ghost started. “you don’t know what’s going on, I barely have an idea of why I’m here but it’s not enough to be sure. All I do know is that we’re both Arthur Kingsmen but I’m from four years into the future, and that I was just dropped off a fucking cliff and supposed to die.”
That was a heck of a doozy to drop on Present Arthur. In the immense confusion he managed to wrangle control back, widening his eyes and stepping away from the mirror until his back was flush against the door once again.
“You- I- Supposed to die? You’re me?? What the hell??? The future???? We died?????”
The ghost scoffed. “No, I died. Nothing is going to happen to you until tomorrow, but hopefully nothing will happen at all since I’m here to try and prevent it.”
Arthur frowned. “What happens tomorrow?”
“Well,” He started. “As much as I would love to tell you everything, I can guarantee that Vivi’s going to come busting down the door any minute now, and it’d be a lot more beneficial to explain with everyone here.”
The last thing he needed was this kind of vague bullshit, but it seems like it’s all he’s gonna get until everyone arrives.
Just then the front door to the shop burst open and a flurry of steps sounded.
Ghost Arthur looked about as heartbroken as he possibly could at the thought of seeing Lewis and Vivi and Mystery all alive and well and together again.
“Well, speak of the devil and she’ll come guns blazing.”