Chapter Text
💭Wait… Are you still hiding where Anon is keeping you??
She attempts to contact Rio telepathically; sounding a bit betrayed and disoriented.
“Don’t bother trying to mess with my baby any more than you already have, you bitch.”
Anon chimes in with a bitter tone, not an ounce of affection in her voice now that Ghost!Jo has crossed this line.
“They’re under my protection, and as long as I’m here you won’t lay another finger on my child Jo.”
As they begin to sense their Mother’s presence, Rio yells out for their mother; sounding frantic; begging for help for their Mother protect them from Ghost!Jo’s wrath
Only realizing the true severity of the situation after seeing how their Mother was reacting to everything. Everything that Rio had initially assumed was okay. Even when Jo scared them; even when Jo hurt them.
Ghost!Jo drops her attempt to try to sway Rio, for now, as she directs her attention to Anon.
“Sheesh, pipe down. Where’d you even appear from, hm? I don’t exactly remember requesting your presence.”
She says in a unfazed and mocking tone
“Where Rio is, is where I am.”
She states sternly, not amused by Ghost!Jo’s display of insensitivity. Not lowering her guard as she is adamant on protecting her child from this monster she sees before herself.
No longer the unsure unexpected stepmother that had originally attempted to gain her affection and trust. No, just a monster who never meant it from the start. She wanted to hurt her, hurt her family. Anon would not let that slide.
“Oh so you show up when it’s convenient for you then?”
Ghost!Jo scoffs
“Sounds about right…”
Anon’s eyes widen out of offended rage “Excuse me?!— And what exactly is that supposed to mea—“
Ghost!Jo rudely puts up her finger to Anon, momentarily silencing her. Anon just stares in utter disgust; at her audacity.
“Yeah yeah.. Hold that thought Anon.”
Jo’s tail flicks as she finally receives a response from Rio
💭Yeah its fun but… I’m starting to feel cooped up… Where I am.
She scoffs at Rio’s childish and fearful nature. Dealing with these children has always been such a nuisance. If only they were as compliant and easy to work with as Mia.
She then responds
💭Rio we don't have time for your immature indecision. We have to get to planning. I truly don’t want to have to resort to hurting you for you to fall in line. After everything we’ve been through it’d be… so sad if.. you too had to be harmed for the sake of the new world I’m trying to create for all of us.
💭Hurt..?
💭That’s right. But see, your Mother doesn’t know better..~ We are on the side of Johnson, He is the one knows all. He understands us Rio. If you continue down this holy path, you too can be spared. No harm will have to come to yo—
💭Liar! You my Mother already knows all she needs to! She didn’t need Johnson then! Why would she need him now?! Plus… S-She.. she’s always protected me, and comforted me… You.. you haven’t really done that
Rio pouts at Ghost!Jo’s cruel and insensitive words toward their mother. Who never harmed them, threatened them, or showed love for them under specific conditions. Unlike Jo did..
Before she could respond, Ghost!Jo’s transmission to Rio gets cut off abruptly as she gets a pang of sudden head pain. She hisses and looks back at Anon realizing it was her doing.
“Shut the fuck up… You lying ass bitch. Don’t you dare try and spread your rotten lies and propaganda onto my child any further. Don’t you think you’ve done enough?!”
Anon’s patience wore thinner by the second.
Who does this bitch think she is??? Does she think she can get away with hurting her baby? Well then, she’s in for a rude awakening.
Ghost!Jo shrieks from the pain and begins to lose her composure, letting out her raw thoughts and emotions
“YOU DID IT FIRST. You and your ‘TREE’.. your stupid… little family tree, making me feel like I didn’t belong, right off the cusp, when I DIDN’T EVEN GET A PROPER CHANCE TO GET TO KNOW ANY OF YOU TO BEGIN WITH.”
“Well that’s your problem, not ours. I mean what??— you expect me to pity you after all you’ve done?”
Anon states bluntly.
Ghost!Jo’s eye twitches as she responds with a snarky tone in her voice
“Reallyyy? Is it my problem..? Because if that’s the case, I could easily make it a problem for you all as well.”
Anon turns away from her before heavily sighing
“Y’know.. We were all much happier till you came along.. Things weren’t perfect, sure. But.. we were comfortable and safe at least.”
She thinks for a split second, not giving Ghost!Jo another second to spiel more of her nonsense.
“Actually no. I take that back, you know why? Because you used to be tolerable at least! Now… I don’t even know where to start with how despicable you are.”
Anon snarls before her face softens for a moment and she mutters to herself
“…Guess that’s what I get for even beginning to trust you in the first place.”
As Jo misinterpreted and over-processed Anon’s words in her head, she thought to herself:
She couldn’t really mean all that… could she?
Of course she could, they all could. You’re a monster Jo; a freak of nature. They all despise and fear you. Why don’t you give them something to truly cower over?
She lets out a low growl as anger boils up inside her.
“Ohhh.. ohhoho. So you finally admit it!.. You never did like me did you?”
She laughs quietly before increasing the volume of her tone severely.
“I never even had the slightest FUCKING chance to be your mother, is that it??”
Anon’s expression softens once more as she recalls past moments with Jo, her frustratingly endearing attempts to gain Anon’s approval. Where did she go?
“Oh I loved you alright... But then you went ahead and touched my baby. And I’ll never forgive you for that.”
Her brows furrowed once more as she locked her eyes onto Ghost!Jo.
“Don’t you dare go and act like there wasn’t resentment from the beginning, Anon.”
Ghost!Jo rolled her eyes in bitter disbelief before checking her nails and continuing
“Besides… You should really be thanking me, Anon.”
”After all, as soon as I laid my eyes on Rio, I saw an opportunity to end the cycle and fix this tree, starting with the newest generation. And so decided to spare their lives.”
Her tail flicks as she smirks proudly.
“What the hell are you talking about?? Rio’s life was perfectly safe before you decided to include them in… whatever this is. You’re the one who’s threatening it. They don’t need your… ‘help’ or your ‘mercy’.”
”So no, I’m not “thanking” you for this shit.”
Anon stated sternly with a tinge of confusion.
“Oh please.. You say as if you all aren’t doing this to yourselves.”
Ghost!Jo said softly before accelerating her tone.
“This is far overdo.. Now that Johnson has returned, I plan to fix this tree from the ground up.”
She sighs dreamily
“It’ll be truly wonderful…”
Anon looked at her bewildered, trying to piece together what she could possibly mean by that.
“Fix it… How exactly? Explain.”
Does she even want to know— No, she has to, she has to be strong for the sake of this family. She needs to warn the others at the very least.
Ghost!Jo looks back at Anon playfully
“Wouldn’t you like to know..? Sorry~ But I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait and see… but just know the process has already begun.”
Ghost!Jo smirks sadistically
“I’m going to have fun breaking all of you down to your core. It’s already begun within the Steorra part of the family. Mushroom and Azure? And I didn’t even have to do much of anything to break them down.”
“Although… Azure did put up quite the fight. But eh, I suppose that’s what happens when a child is raised to be strong. They’re more stubborn, less passive.”
Anon just stares at her, the fear leaving her face and voice as she says dryly
“Y’know.. you’re pretty bad at convincing others that you're in the right when you spout shit like this. You must realize that.”
“That’s only because you’re brainwashed into thinking this family was ever something of value to begin with..~ How did you put it..? Ah yes.”
Jo repeats in Anon’s voice back to her
🔊“That’s a you problem.”
Ghost!Jo snickers as Anon is put off by her one-to-one impression of her voice. It was just like playing back a recording..
“You say that but the fact that you're fighting for it proves it is valuable.”
Anon says glaring at Ghost!Jo
“I’m not fighting for it you dumb whore. I’m fighting AGAINST IT.”
Ghost!Jo steps closely to Anon, yelling with a growl; directly in her face
Anon doesn’t show any fear, not even flinching at Ghost!Jo’s excessive aggression, she looks away from her
“Still, your proving its value..”
Ghost!Jo huffs before stepping back
“And you’re still proving my point, that you’re lost Anon. And you will certainly not be found without Johnson’s guidance in the new world… That I can guarantee.”
As Ghost!Jo regains her composure, adjusting her posture and running her fingers through her hair, she begins observing Anon’s fury growing larger. She then continues to egg her on by continuing to respond to Rio:
💭 ..Oh! Ohh Rio… Did I forget to mention to you what is going to happen to those who don’t comply? Silly me.
Rio shivers and their stomach sinks as the realization kicks in
💭You are going to...willingly send people to the dark realm? But Johnson said we shouldn’t—
Ghost Jo’s voice rings through Rio’s head, almost becoming unbearable to listen to for them. They cover their ears and curl up in on themself
“JOHNSON’S NOT HERE RIGHT NOW, is He? Which means I’M in charge. And what I say goes, if I choose to punish the others harshly then that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Johnson has a good heart, but I take it that this option of punishment not being exploited was merely a suggestion.”
A sadistic smirk grows on Ghost!Jo’s face, giving her more of a disturbing, haunting look. As the corners of her mouth reach farther up her face; more than someone’s mouth ever should. But then again she isn’t a person anymore. Hardly at least. No, she’s too far gone.
“THATS ENOUGH.”
Anon snaps at Ghost!Jo
“I don’t know what the HELL you’re saying to them, but I can feel that my baby's in pain because of it. Whatever you’re on about is stopping right now.”
Ghost!Jo dramatically poses with her hand to her forehead as she speaks with a singly sarcasm.
“Ohhh please spare me Anon! You’re oh sooo threatening. I can’t take it—“
She then is cut off by some of the worst nauseating pain she’s felt in awhile, stumbling a bit on her feet as Anon’s voice echoes through her head. She shrieks in anguish
💭M-Mom?! What are you doing to Jo???
Rio exclaims in a confused panic as they hear Jo’s distressed cries as she grapples with the pain being inflicted on her
💭Baby I’m so sorry, you shouldn’t have to be here for any of this. I’m getting you away from her, okay? But in order for me to do that Mommy needs your help. Do you trust me?
Rio’s eyes narrow and they let out a heavy sigh; her vulnerable child-like demeanor changes into a serious and pissed facial expression. Anyone who is willing to send someone into the underworld is someone undeserving of her respect and affection.
Ghost!Jo says in a gloating tone; still trying to strike intimidation and fear within the two of them
“I’m going to fix everything. And I’ll even finally get to have Jun back. All to myself, how it should’ve been from the very start. THIS FAMILY TOOK HER FROM ME. SHE’S ALL I HAD AFTER—”
Ghost!Jo stops herself as she starts breathing heavily, grasping her chest for a moment
Forget it, everything that happened before isn’t the focus right now… she isn’t the focus. Let it go let it go let it go LET IT GO.
She closes her eyes to see Rio’s expression after noticing them go silent
💭Ah.. something the matter Rio..? You.. seem upset.
💭 Oh. Nothing. Don’t you even worry about anything… Jo.
Their voice has become entirely cold. Ghost!Jo becomes slightly agitated by this development, but tries to dismiss it out of the fear of losing an ally.
💭Listen Rio, I am giving you… one last chance.. to do the right thing…Because I’m nice..~ DON’T mess this up. You’d be a fool to decline my offer of mercy.
Yup. Final nail in the coffin, at any chance of Jo being anything but a cruel control freak over me. Mom was right… of course she was. Why didn’t I listen??
💭I think you forgot who’s been a ghost longer…You forget this headspace is my domain.
Rio responds, giggling at Ghost!Jo’s naivety and Ghost!Jo irks back a little bit from Rio’s tonal shift
💭E-Excuse me..??
Ghost!Jo being incredibly confused from this shift of behavior from them. Who do they think they are?? After how gracious I’ve been? Ungrateful brat. Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree after all.
Anon’s eyes glow a bright blue as she supports her child’s authority
Rio leans into their mothers presence and basks in it before focusing at the air where they can image Ghost!Jo, their emotions being passed through to her through the headspace connection
Ghost!Jo laughs, not being able to help talking out loud now. Being too overwhelmed by the sensation she’s beginning to feel.
“What—“ her pupils shrink as she feels a chill go down her spine as she laughs nervously
“What.. what the fuck…?”
Anon smirks, seeing Ghost!Jo get a taste of her own medicine
“I don’t think you realize just how powerful this side of the tree is. See, Rio is my child. And I am my father’s child. She is a god after all.”
“This isn’t happening..”
Ghost!Jo balls up her first as she attempts to slow her breathing, her tail wraps around one of her legs to ground herself
She glares at Anon’s statement and giggles cheekily
“I’m very aware. Me and Jelka are quite close. I’ve slept with that God multiple times—“
She sucks her teeth as the pain becomes more prevalent. She did just provoke Anon. Maybe talking shit and using her own father to tease her isn’t the best idea in her current position
“..There was a time, when I first arrived here with Jun… when I decided to partake in following your father as well… That is.. Before I WOKE UP—“
Rio's voice resonates throughout Ghost!Jo's entire body, like an unbearable mixture of chills and sharp prickles. Cutting Ghost!Jo’s works short before continuing:
💭This, this is what happens when I get serious. What’s the matter? You didn’t think you were the only one with power did you?
Anon decides to join Rio in the headspace connection; just to establish even further the lack of control of the situation Ghost!Jo has and speaks
💭Clearly you’re stupid, how could you forget who we are?
Rio cackles at their mother’s sentiment before responding to her
💭 This is Ironic isnt it?
Ghost!Jo falls to her knees and grips at the grass before thinking to herself
“DAMMIT. Why didn’t I tread more carefully.. Why does this feel like… like.. No.. no they can’t share a connection with Them, that’s not how that works!! …Right..??
Rio continues, watching Ghost!Jo fall apart satisfyingly. This is exactly what she deserves, after all those errands, all those arguments. All the confusion. It’s all coming back to bite her
💭What happened to trying to make me question siding with my own MOTHER, huh? You can't do anything anymore… Cowering on the floor like that.
She grits her teeth as she thinks to herself
BARE IT JO. Bear your punishment. Take it, take it… TAKE IT ALL JUST AS YOU DID TO GET THIS FAR. YOU CAN’T FAIL NOW. NOT WHEN YOU’RE SO CLOSE.
The tears that were forming in her eyes quickly go back into her eyes as she leans her head back, she then opens her mouth slowly
Rio cackles at Ghost!Jo, watching the woman who they feared all this time being helpless to their abilities
💭You think THIS is your punishment?! Oh no, we’re just getting started. You’re not getting away with all the damage you’ve caused.
Their voice gets so much louder now. It felt as if Ghost!Jo’s head was a deep cave with the loud echoes circulating through her mind right now
💭THIS? THIS IS JUST A WARNING. Stay. Away. From my family.
Rio feels a twinge of sympathy as they see Jo start to cry, but doesn’t lower their guard. She’s emotionally manipulated them before. And they can’t let that happen again. This is no time to falter.
💭Come back to us when you realize who you are Jo… We’ll be waiting
Anon hears this, of course, and is proud of the fact that despite everything her child is still showing compassion to this… monster. But I think it’s fair to say she learned an important lesson today
Ghost!Jo breathes heavily as she continues to grit her teeth, as the sound subsides she digs her hands into the ground and lets out a loud wailing scream as her mouth glows a vibrant purple and her spine begins to expose itself through her back in little spikes
Anon & Rio watch in confusion and disturbance. Rio latching onto Anon feeling frightened by this change in appearance from Ghost!Jo
Ghost!Jo then begins to grow thick dark purple vines throughout the ground that erode the surface of the dirt and grass ever so slightly.
She continues screaming, in pain? From her stress? Out of pure bliss from her deserved suffering? Wondering if her Maker is watching; wondering if this is what they want to happen to her after all this time from to be satisfied.
She can hardly tell; as her screams become less and less like sounds she’s heard come from herself before.
She mourns briefly, almost feeling regret for a moment at how far gone she has become, she screams out for help, to Poppy, to Carmine, to Arthur, to… Jun? Why? Jun hates her right now..
Why would Jun help you??? She hates you. They all hate you. They all hate you. They all hate you. Hank should’ve killed you when he had the chance. HE SHOULD HAVE HIT THE KILL POINT.
She begins to now screech as her throat begins to give out, the vines still growing throughout the ground, she then briefly laughs and smiles as she continues her screeching
No… No Jun’s going to love me.. I’m going to revive her when she comes back home to her farm. She’s going to adore me once again. After that I’ll have the boost of motivation to finally begin to do some real damage. This is just a minor setback..
She giggles before she thinks
Charlotte will be so pleased that me and Junnie are best friends again, I bet her little tail is gonna wag so fast…. I hope… she’s doing.. alright..
She attempts to prolong her time before she inevitably passes out, by now Anon and Rio have gone, surely. But the lingering effects of their magic are doing numbers on Ghost!Jo’s body.
Her screaming comes to an abrupt end as she then quickly tries to cover her mouth, but it’s not enough to prevent her throwing up after the violent nausea she felt.
She then painfully regurgitated all over the floor in front of herself. producing this rather strange periwinkle and red substance.
She then begins to speak aloud once it starts slowing down, panting hard, the air irritating her stinging throat.
“No… Everything is in HIS control.. RIO, AND YOUR BITCH MOTHER? IF YOU’RE HEARING THIS, HEAR ME LOUD AND CLEAR. ILL BE SURE TO SAVE A PERFECT SPOT FOR THE TWO OF YOU— NO— YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY.”
She smiles and laughs manically as she looks up to the sky and holds her hands out, as if to connect with Johnson
“I DONT CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO ME..?? I SIMPLY AM A PAWN TO MOVE THE STORY ALONG. MY LIFE HAS NEVER HELD ANY VALUE FROM THE START. BUT BELIEVE ME… I AM THIS MY PATHETIC LITTLE LIFE TO BE USEFUL FOR ONCE!”
Just when Jo thought Rio left entirely and hears a faint set of footsteps, and a gentle response through her ringing ears. She looks behind herself and sees Rio actually standing behind her; revealing herself. Anon not far behind; crossing her arms.
Their voice sounds almost disappointed, why? It’s not like I did anything they haven’t seen before..
“You really think Jun is going to stand by your side? You really think anyone will once they see the atrocities you have and will commit..?”
Cough, hack.
Ghost!Jo mutters to herself. Not even having the strength to continue looking back at Rio.
“Junnie.. cares about me… she couldn’t possibly entirely hate me… she doesn’t. I’m not thinking straight.. yeah.. yeah exactly.”
Rio looks down at her crumpled on the floor
“Even after you planned to kill the person she were going to marry?”
Ghost!Jo responds bitterly
“She’ll have no choice! I’m going to revive her… she’ll be in my debt.”
“Nobody and I mean… chuckles NOBODY KNOWS HER THE WAY I DO. SHE SAVED ME AND I'VE BEEN BY HER SIDE THIS WHOLE TIME, AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE IT.”
“Defending her from your constant berating.. dehumanizing her despite her very much still being a person… Speaking on her behalf when she couldn’t even be BOTHERED to ATTEMPT to defend herself..”
“All of you thought we hated each other… That we were bitter exes…That’s only half true. But my feelings are far more complex..~ I love Jun. She’s my best friend. I’ve never experienced love the way she loved— The way she loves me.. She loves me so so so much… so.. so..—“
She thinks about Taco and her ears perk up
“Taco… That’s right. She’s been the only one taking up all her attention lately isn’t she?”
Rio shudders and thinks to themself
Wait… did I just give her ideas?? Um well shoot, I need to warn Mom..
Rio backs away before sprinting back to their Mother
“…Taco.. Hmmm.. I need to revive Jun. But I don’t want to make her sad right when she turns back to normal…. Only to discover her wife was dearly departed while she was away..”
She pouts
“Bless her heart, I bet that’d truly devastate her if she happened to be sober, so there has to be a work around to this..”
She looks down at the red and periwinkle swirled ectoplasm that came out from Jo’s body and smiles psychotically. Almost as if, she saw something within the horrendous mess. A sign of sorts.
“Oh.. Ohhhhh..!~ I SEE IT NOW.”
She begins to trace within the ectoplasm, His sigil. Once it’s complete a red light emits from the symbol on the floor. Imagining her planned scenario to play out as a visual
“That’s… That’s perfect! She’ll fall right into my hands so easily. She’s bound to comply. I know out of all of them Taco still has a secret soft spot for me.”
She smiles and lets out more deranged laughter, but then it slowly descended into tears
Gods, just listen to yourself. Look at what you’ve become. Exploiting her affections like that. You are horrid. An unlovable, manipulative, HEARTLESS—
“Shh..Shut up.. for once.. just give my mind a… a moment of.. Silence.”
She slouches over, partially lying in the disgusting liquid, not having enough energy to even scoot a few inches away from it
“..Fuck.. so pathetic.. Still so weak.. and so… dependent. I need His guidance.. He’s know what to do…o-or.. Maybe even Mia, if she's somewhere nearby..”
She attempts to form her hands into the symbol, waiting for the red light to emit. But it seems as if.. her magical abilities are… disabled?
“..But I can’t even send a out signal.. of course not… so sniff Pathetic.. Dammit.”
Not too long after she finishes speaking, she passes out. Absolutely exhausted by what had just occurred; the emotional and physical toll it took on her body.
Maybe she’ll feel better when she wakes up, maybe everything will be fine. Well, it’s not like there’s any other option. It’ll have to be fine. After all…
THERE’S ALWAYS MORE WORK TO BE DONE.