In the meantime I'll talk about that one awful and sad AU because I've been thinking about it lately, and it's also where my Crester feels have been coming from
Except I decided that at least Meryl if not also Morrison would make it, like they get trapped in at first so Cress believes everyone's gone but they eventually make it out going through the sewers that Cress and Mint took in the game
So for a while he's just by himself while Dhaos shadows him, trying to make sure he makes it back safely to civilization, while at the same time also being really forlorn and angry due to the mana situation. This leads to a lot of snarky back-and-forth during their encounters, to the point where Dhaos ends up behaving pretty snide and childish while Cress just shuts down, utterly depressed in the end. Like he'll fight for a little while, but it doesn't take long for him to just give up and start brooding.
After a bit of trial and error, Dhaos learns to shut up about his problems since, after all, he is talking to a child, and just dedicates himself to taking care of Cress for the time being. Mostly in silence, with the exception of one- or two-sentence answers to questions like "why won't you go away" or "why do you care so much".
Eventually they come upon a house (belonging to Morrison) and Cress males his break for freedom (not that he was really being held captive in the first place) and finds the survivor(s) there. After that he goes to live with Meryl and Mint, until ten-ish years later the lot of them get summoned by the King of Alvanista and they're informed that demonic activity is on the rise and war might be upon them. They're sent to go fetch Master Tristan and anyone else skilled and able enough to fight, which brings them back to Toltus
Just being there turns Cress into a frazzled mess, and he spends nearly 90% of his time being upset and/or uncomfortable, except for when he's around his old childhood friend, Chester, who reunited with him in such a nonchalant, casual "hey what's up, long time no see" manner that it was actually pretty comforting. like everyone else who recognizes him is like "WOAH IT'S CRESS!! YOU'RE SO BIG! Also...my condolences regarding your parents..." and Chester's just like "so you and yours are sleeping at my place, right?" as if the last time they spoke was yesterday.
At some point they're walking back to Chester's place and Cress gets a good look at his old house. The dojo itself has been kept up, but it's been separated from the house, which was left alone and eventually became overgrown and dilapidated. Chester nudges his shoulder and asks if he wants to go in. Cress isn't sure, but decides he'll go if Chester agrees to go with him.
They go in and Cress seems fine until they get to his room and he starts sobbing like "Man when we came back here to get my things all I wanted to do was sleep in my own bed. I think I expected to wake up and for everything to be okay again if I did that. I'm almost glad Aunt Meryl didn't let me, even though I was angry with her for weeks." He starts to get more and more upset the longer they stay there, and he starts to feel unreal and panic, so without asking Chester just sits on the bed and starts talking about his own memories of playing with Cress and eating diner at his place and sleeping over and all of that stuff.
Eventually Cress starts feeling grounded again and sits next to Chester, and he admits that when he came home before, he already felt like he didn't belong there, like he wasn't the same person coming back as when he left, because when you're a kid your parents are so big; they're so much of your life. And he admits that he thought pretty much all of his old self was gone entirely, but hearing stories coming from Chester finally made him feel connected to his old self.
And then he suddenly goes "Like, remember that time when we..." and they both go off reliving these old memories, and basically it helps confirm that those memories are his own and that his life didn't just start from when his parents died. Eventually they get talked out, laughing and sighing, and Cress says "I'm glad you asked me if I wanted to come up here. I wouldn't have gone by myself and I never would have remembered all of this stuff."
And Chester says "Well than I'm glad, too. I really enjoyed all those times; it would have been a shame if they went forgotten."
Cress kinda twiddles his thumbs and goes "I know it's been ten years but we should really keep being friends! I don't wanna leave after today and pretend like we didn't share this time together."
Chester replies "That's obvious! You got a lot of nerve suggesting I'd ever set all that aside..."
Cress says "R-right! Sorry!" while totally beaming. After that they share a moment just smiling at each other, not awkward at all, just being too pleased for words at each other. Eventually Chester leans his face in towards Cress', and even though Cress isn't quite sure why Chester'd want to kiss him, he doesn't stop him. In fact, he leans in and closes the distance, himself, and it only lasts a few seconds but it's very sweet and satisfying and energizing.
Chester gets up after a few more moments of shared silence and stands in the doorway, facing away from Cress, then announces "Ami will hate me for this, but I think I'll have to sign up tomorrow and fight." before going downstairs and leaving Cress to his thoughts.