I finally get to join in a prompts thing while it's going!
This is being hosted by IcyWillowSong, an amazing fellow writer. Their rules for this are that it can be anything related to a FavremySabre series, not just Steve related, OCs are allowed, A...
Context: Read last prompt for this one's context, please!
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[Sabre's POV]
It was early morning, and as I woke up I could see the previous night's raindrops on the window. Sunlight filters through them, making tiny dots of rainbows in the drops.
Everything turned out relatively fine after yesterday, despite the accident in the cave. It only stung for a few more minutes after Light and the Guards got me out of that weird lake, and it didn't seem like it did anything. I still felt a bit sore just before going to bed last night, but it's passed by now and I feel pretty much normal.
I slide out of bed and stretch, about to start my normal routine. Rubbing my eyes, I groggily walk over to my desk, and look in the mirror. I-
...
Aa-
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"WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK-?!"
As I begin to panic, Time rushes into the room.
"Sabre, what's-" He starts, but is also taken aback by my appearance. "HOLY- WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!"
I struggle to form a sentence amid my hysteria, freaking out at... whatever in the world this is. Time comes into the room and tries to get me to stop.
"Sabre, Sabre, listen to me. Calm down. Panicking won't help." Time says, grasping my shoulders. "Can you remember anything that could've caused this? Anything at all?"
"I- uhm- the- the lake in t-that cave-?" I stutter, remembering the plunge into it I took the previous day.
"That cave- of course." Time mutters. He lets go of me and starts to run out of the room. "I'll be back! Stay here!"
"O-Okay?" I say, confused and still panicking.
It's not long before I hear lightning outside. Not really knowing what else to do, and starting to fall into hysteria, I just go over to a spot of the floor in front of my bed and curl up there, shaking. At least the rug is soft...
I try to distract myself from anything related to this, but whenever I do I just see the spots of transformed flesh on my hand.
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Welp. This escalated quickly.
I'm now sitting on an observation table in Professor Red's lab, while he, Time, and M discuss what this could possibly be.
"Professor, how are you so calm about this?!" Time exclaims next to me.
"Because I'm pretty sure I know what this is." Professor Red says. "Now, so I can explain, have either of you heard of the legends of a thing called the Abyss?"
"Professor, don't start, we need to mentally prepare them for this." M says, facepalming.
"The what?" Time and I both ask.
"The Abyss is known as a place where nothing really follows the normal laws of existence." The Professor begins. "Take that strange lake for example; You said that it was most definitely not made up of water, and it burned and tried to drag you deeper into it, right Sabre?"
"Yeah..." I answer, getting worried.
"And there he goes..." M mumbles.
"Well, that was likely a gateway to the Abyss. You were right, that's not water, it's a membrane." The Professor continues. "It only seems to act like water because we're small enough to it that we cannot break it in any way, and we're close enough to see its slightest movements. Think of it like the membrane of a cell, kind of. It keeps things large enough and dangerous to the Abyss out and can let things small enough and harmless to it inside... not without a change, of course."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Time asks.
"Like I said, the Abyss doesn't really follow the normal laws of existence." Professor Red says. "If it wants to let something inside, it has to change whatever it is so it could survive in the Abyss. That change apparently happens through another use for the membrane: It has a mutagen built into it, and that mutagen alters a host's structure so it could theoretically live inside the Abyss."
"Wait- Wouldn't that mean-?" I say, realizing.
"Weeeelllll..." The Professor says, looking a bit nervous.
"Professor. What's happening to Sabre?" Time asks sternly.
"Sabre may or may not be slowly turning into a creature of the Abyss."
Silence.
I start to internally panic while Time freaks out.
"I told you being so blunt about it wouldn't help, Professor." M sighs.
"Well what else am I supposed to do?!" Professor Red exclaims.
"Uh- I don't know- MAYBE TELL PEOPLE WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT A WEIRD LAKE ACTUALLY IS BEFORE SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS??" Time says.
"Hey, I may have heard about the cave's discovery, but I didn't think people would actually go inside!" The Professor says. "You hear about weird glowing lakes all the time (no pun intended), and it's usually just some glow lichen covered by thin coral or something! Not a literal gateway to the Abyss."
"Can- Can we fix this?" I ask, admittedly a bit scared.
"Possibly. There's not exactly a record of this happening, because anyone who ever tried to investigate the Abyss in the past had disappeared." The Professor says. "Now we know it was likely that 'lake' had pulled them down into it. It's going to be a lot of trial and error to reverse the effect of the mutagen."
"Right... the stupid thing that made me grow horns-"
"Those are actually the beginnings of antlers."
"Professor, you're not helping." M says.
"Well, I dunno! I don't exactly deal with this type of situation every day!" Professor Red says.
"Okay, look, we're all just a little panicked about this, everyone needs to calm down a little and not argue." Time says.
"You're right, you're right..." The Professor mutters. "Time, can you go warn Light not to send anyone else down the cave so we don't have more than one case of this?"
"Sure." Time says. "Be right back."
Time teleports away. I'm left with M and the Professor next to me.
"Okay Sabre, I just need to see how far this goes." The Professor says, pulling out a syringe.
"Professor-" M starts, noticing me flinch.
"What? You're here, so I'm supervised." Professor Red shrugs. "I just need to check if it's just the skin and teeth that are changing, or if it goes further."
M sighs as the Professor walks closer. I begrudgingly hold out my arm, and Professor Red places the syringe in one of the altered patches of my skin.
I expect to see my normal red blood, but when the Professor pulls back the syringe's plunger an almost shimmering purple liquid fills the glass container.
"...Don't scream-" Professor Red quickly says to me.
