Bab 171: Interlude
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(Xanthar)
Often he thought of happier times. When life was simple. When Bill was there, and happy and nothing was wrong with the world.
But recently, there was more yelling. Arguing. Everyone seemed upset for reasons Xanthar only partially understood. If someone was hurting a member of their family, just stop them. Wasn't that how it worked?
But Xanthar didn't really understand. The world used to be simple. But it wasn't so easy to understand anymore. Everyone was upset. Angry. Crying. The screaming got worse. And then Pynelope was gone.
And Bill left.
Xanthar knew Bill left often. But he always came back. Always.
But he waited. And waited. And waited.
And waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited...
But Bill wasn't coming back.
"Hey big guy." Keyhole was there, rubbing Xanthar's side like Bill always did. "We found where he is." That made Xanthar perk up. "But Bill doesn't want to see Pyronica, and we don't want to take sides." Keyhole leaned against him. "We're fine with that, we all have stuff to do. But... you're lonely, aren't you?"
Xanthar wilted in on himself.
"I don't think anyone will mind if you left." Keyhole told him. "Go. He's with Pyrone."
So Xanthar left. He lived with Bill and Pyrone for a good long time. Bill was distracted, he seemed almost in a daze, almost as if he didn't notice Xanthar was there. But that was okay. As long as Bill still stayed by his side. And he did. Bill couldn't sleep alone. He still snuggled into Xanthar's side at night. So Xanthar didn't mind that Bill didn't seem to consciously notice him.
They were together again. That was all that mattered.
It wasn't like Bill didn't still feed him, or brush his fur, or hold him close. So everything was fine again.
And then Bill called Pyronica over. Because it was Time. And then Pyrone died. And Xanthar watched Bill burn.
The flames hurt but he refused to leave. He couldn't leave Bill alone. But before the heat could become real pain, the sky split apart and Xanthar got his first look at the AXOLOTL.
It was huge. A massive salamander that twisted the very world around it as it moved. Xanthar could see Space itself warping and pulling towards the large pink hand as it reached down. The warping almost hurt more than the flames. Pyrone's children were screaming. Pyronica woke from where she was sleeping and stared in awe at the god.
Xanthar couldn't look away. The AXOLOTL closed his hand around Bill and pulled.
And then Bill was gone.
And then Xanthar was alone again.
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PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Mlzuum4
Mlzuum4 So MizBill is gonna be gone for a few chapters, I can take this time to experiment with POVs
I can't do too much because I don't want to progress time too much while Bill is away, but I might end up having to. I'm gonna make short POVs from the other Maniacs and characters while they wait for Bill to return.
(The issue with Bill coming back at the same time he left would be that nothing changed here while he was gone, but if I wrote stuff, it progresses Time in their dimension and that means Bill will be gone for that amount of time. So I'm in a weird situation here where I want to progress the story while the main character is gone xD