A Single Spark (Scaramouche x Reader)

Chapter 5: Shattered Glass

"150!" you shouted before you collapsed to the ground. Your face wore a smug expression. After all, 150 push-ups is no easy feat!

Kuni just scoffed then pointed at himself, saying, "I could do better, ya know!"

"Oh yeah? Wanna bet?" you asked, pushing yourself off the ground and onto your feet. "I'm not the same person I was six months ago!"

You were interrupted by the Doctor himself, Il Dottore.

"What do you want?" Scaramouche snapped. You would have laughed under different circumstances, because Kuni had to strain his neck to see above his hat and meet Dottore's eyes. Dottore was at least two heads taller.

The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes. He pushed the brim of that gigantic hat into its owner's eyes. "Relax, Scaramouche. I just need your lover for a couple of minutes down in the lab."

"They're NOT my lover!"

You couldn't hold in your laughter any longer, and the noise made both men turn to you. "You-You two are idiots!" you cackled.

You could see a sickening expression through Dottore's mask, and Scaramouche just looked pissed. As you made your way over to Scaramouche, he pulled you down and whispered in your ear, "Be careful."

You nodded, and followed Dottore down into his lair.

There was something on the center lab table that looked...suspicious. Dottore wrapped his arm around you and led me to said table. His eyes gleamed with sickly sweet euphoria and his smile was bigger than ever.

There was an intriguing piece of stone on the work surface. It had old carvings on it with runes lacing the edges of the image.

Dottore was really excited, and talking a mile a minute. "I found this on one of my travels out of Snezhnaya! It's extremely ancient...I daresay it's from the time of the Archon war!"

If you were being honest, you were a little intrigued, too. But upon closer examination on your end...

"Dottore..."

"Yes?"

"Where the HELL did you get this?!"

"I-In some ruins in Natlan. It was heavily guarded. Why?"

Dottore was shocked by your outburst. No, he was scared. After a few minutes, the Doctor tried to break the silence.

"What does it say, Zasha?" he asked tentatively.

"I won't say," you replied.

Dottore scanned over the images, excitement and inquisitiveness hitting him like a wave. "But, but how did you break that code so quickly?!"

You looked over at him with disbelief. "That's the least of our worries!" you snapped.

Dottore nodded, "you're right, of course. How do you think it was made?"

You blinked a few times, processing what he said.

"Excuse me?! Dottore, this–this thing isn't natural! PROMISE me you will destroy this!"

He nodded. "O-of course. You're right. I let my curiosity get the better of me."

You whirled around on my heel and marched back up the stairs, as far away from the lab as possible.

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"What happened in the hellhole?" Kuni asked. A mix of worry and curiosity was written on his face, but he was trying to mask it with indifference.

"T-there was an old carving he had brought in from a trip to Natlan," you stuttered. You were still shaken up by the experience because it was like nothing yoj had witnessed before.

"It...itgaveinstructionsonhowtobringthedeadbacktolife!" you said rapidly.

Kuni grabbed my shoulders. "Get yourself together, idiot!"

When you calmed down, he asked, "What did you do with it?"

"I told Dottore to destroy it, then I left."

Pure terror replaced the reflection in his eyes. "(y/n), did you see him destroy it?"

"...no," you admitted. "The-the aura was making me nauseous and I felt like fainting. I just needed to get out of there. And I didn't even tell him what it said. Besides, that writing system is so ancient I doubt he'll figure it out."

Scaramouche looked up and said in a hushed tone, "Then we're all doomed, and it's your fault."

YOUR FAULT?! What the FRICK-FRACK is he saying?! "Well, maybe you should have fought harder to keep me out of the Fatui! After all, you were the only one who thought I wasn't wOrThY."

"You...know about that?"

"Of course I know about that! So what do you really think of me, huh? Am I some joke to you?!"

Kunikuzushi slowly rose, and looked at you with icy eyes. He turned around and walked away. "Damn, way to mess things up, just like last time..." he muttered.

But those words were lost on the wind.

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That night you had a nightmare, except it was too realistic to be a nightmare. It felt all too real. The sounds, smells, and beating of your heart in dreamland was so real you didn't wake up.

All the dead people would stand back up, only to be struck down again...and Dottore was in the middle of it all. His laughing echoed in your brain over and over again, until it was a cacophony of unintelligible noise. Then you felt something on my shoulder.

It was Scaramouche. The life had left his eyes and he was covered in blood—oh my archons.

But somehow he was able to look me dead in the eye still. He whispered, "All your fault...all your fault" over and over again... Blood poured from his eyes.

You knelt on the ground, whispering, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" you felt tears hot down my cheeks. You couldn't tell anymore what was real and what wasn't.

After what seemed like ages you sat bolt upright, sweaty and shaking.

It was the worst experience you've ever had.