25 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐂𝐔! || FMS Writing Challenge

DAY TEN: Scrooge

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AU: Steve Legends (40 years prior)

Characters: Hypno Steve, Vermilion, Carmine (OC-ish)

Story Status: Completed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hypno was never the biggest fan of Christmas.

Even when they were a red steve, even before they became the Red King's apprentice, they never found joy in the Christmas season.

How could they? It was when they lost their father, after all.

The memory of that day was engrained in Hypno's mind, despite being so young when it happened. So here they were, rewatching it as it played out in real time before them.

   Of course, their past self and their captor, who wasn't even a steve, couldn't see them. Hypno had mastered the art of invisibility to the naked steve eye. The perks of being an illusionist.

Hypno watched, his purple eye void of emotion, as the tall, purplish-black being advanced towards his smaller form. Their younger self was backed against a tree, eyes shut but tears still pouring from them.

They remembered that feeling of hopelessness mixed with regret. How they wished they never ventured outside the kingdom and into the dark, snowy ruins.

The ruins weren't terribly far from the kingdom. They were at least and hour or so away. Hypno knew them as the same ruins that one elite in the future would be trapped in them by the same creature. Sharp, they remembered him being called. The archivist.

The creature in front of the younger Hypno gave a hiss as it moved closer to its target. Back then, Hypno believed it would be the last thing they would hear before being welcomed into the embrace of death. Hearing it now had lost its effect.

The young steve dared to open an eye as he saw the magenta glow of light through his eyelids. The creature had bent in front of him, almost so that they were face-to-face. There was no escape now.

Hypno merely folded their arms over their chest and watched. What point was there in helping?

A shout from the forest had the illusionist turning their head, their arms still crossed. Out of the trees appeared one of the elites, a sword in one hand, a shield bearing the Red Kingdom's emblem in the other.

Took him long enough.

Once the creature saw the other steve, it disappeared in a blink of purple energy. The elite dashed towards the younger steve, raising his shield to protect them both. His sword was tightly clasped in his other hand.

As Hypno watched the elite scan the forest, they remembered just who he was. He was one of the elites from Boss' generation. One of the few that never returned, yet one of the first red steves to discover the creature later known as the Ruin.

   Once the elite, his name now remembered to be Carmine, deemed the area safe, his arms fell back to his sides. His sword was sheathed before he turned around. The steve he was protecting looked up at him with curious eyes.

   "You alright, little guy?" The elite asked, crouching to the other's level of eyesight. "Did that thing hurt you at all?"

The young steve shook his head, still too scared to speak.

Carmine frowned, but made no attempt to make his charge say anything. He understood that fear; he was once in a position similar to this.

   "Let's get you back to the kingdom, shall we?" The older steve stood back up. He offered a hand to the child, who gladly took it. "Your parents must be worried sick about you."

   A frown appeared on the young steve's face. His parents probably hadn't even noticed he was gone. And even if they did, it's not like they would care. They never did.

   Hypno took to following the pair as they returned to the kingdom. Snow crunched beneath their feet as the forest remained silent. No breeze stirred the branches, but the atmosphere still felt chilled. The child seemed glad he put on a jacket before venturing outside.

   In some way, Carmine reminded Hypno of Colle, later known as the Second Hero and sealer of the Darkness. They had similar personalities, despite this elite living years before Colle came into existence. They had the same sense of selflessness and concern for the safety of others, even if one was meant to be a collector of objects for study and the other an analyst for potential threats.

"How did you find yourself out here?" Carmine broke the silence, glancing down to the child next to him. Never once did they let go of their joined hands. "Today doesn't seem like a day a child would be sneaking out of the kingdom. Quite the opposite, really."

"My parents..." The child mumbled out. His breath fogged in the air before him. "They hit me again...I just wanted to play in the snow..."

Carmine froze. "'Again?'"

The young steve nodded. "They said it was normal for children to be hit. They said it was out of love."

The words seemed strangely familiar to Carmine. It was almost like he was told the same thing, back when he was a child.

The elite quickly dropped to a crouch again, this time placing his hands on the younger's shoulders. "Who are your parents?"

The child was startled by the sudden change in tone, once gentle but now urgent. "U-uh...Fuchsia and Falu."

Carmine felt his blood turn to ice.

"Since when did they have a second child?" He murmured, more to himself than the steve in front of him. He then shook his head. "Doesn't matter. We need to get you to the Academy."

   Hypno still remembered what happened once they and their older brother reached the Academy. Carmine told his boss the new information, which then got reported to the new Red King. Fuchsia and Falu were arrested for two cases of child abuse; one for Carmine, and the other for Vermilion. Hypno's younger self, in other words.

   All of this occurred on Christmas Day. While Hypno did discover he had a brother, the day still totaled to be the worst of his life.

   Never again did Hypno find himself enjoying Christmas.

   Especially not when Carmine was reported dead exactly one year later.