ChromaTober | 2023 FMS Writing Challenge

-| Day 9: Betrayal |-

Everybody's gonna have some angsty fun with this one lol

AU: This is kind of a mini-AU I guess, probably gonna be like a small miniseries within the book :D

Context: So what if Corrected Sun arc... buuut Sol was smarter and Sabre didn't have protag luck?

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[Green Steve's POV]

...I don't want to do this. But I don't want to find out what'll happen if I don't.

I suddenly jolt when there's a knock at my door. He's here. I quickly get up from the couch and walk to the door, trying my best to act natural.

When I open the door, Sabre is standing there with his usual smile.

"Hello, Sabre! Glad you could make it." I greet him as he gives me a hug. "Just in time, too. The tea is almost ready."

"Hey there, Green, nice to see you too." Sabre says, then looks concerned as he steps back. "You okay?"

"Hm?"

"You look like you just saw a ghost, man. Are you okay?"

"Oh, uh, yes. I'm fine." I answer. "Come on inside, please."

I close the door behind Sabre as he walks in, and he takes his usual spot at the table across from where I sit.

"I'm just a bit stressed out from all of the recent events with the Corrected Sun." I explain while heading into the kitchen, which... technically isn't a lie. "I've already had to outrun some of their guards. They're a bit much, y'know?"

"Yeah, pretty sure some of their hidden members are responsible for making the crowd that wrecked my house." Sabre sighs. "I'm getting really sick of them."

"As am I." I say, checking the water that's heating up on the stove. "They're, uh..."

I freeze while looking out the window as I was lifting the kettle off the stovetop. There's a few moments of silence.

"...Hello? Green?" Sabre says to me, which snaps me out of it. I turn around and look at him.

"Sorry, I blanked while trying to think of something." I smile awkwardly.

"It's okay, just had me worried for a second." Sabre smiles back. "I guess words can't describe how annoying they can be, huh?"

That makes me laugh as I turn back around to add the tea leaves into the kettle. I glance back out the window as Sabre continues talking, although I'm not really listening.

...He's gone now.

Sabre keeps talking while I prepare the tea. I pour some into two cups and set everything on a tray, being careful not to drop anything while I walk to the table. I set one cup in front of my friend and place the other in front of my seat, setting the tray down in the middle on the table. As I sit down, I start paying attention to what Sabre's saying.

"-And it turned out that he was just getting pranked the entire time, so that was fun to deal with." Sabre laughs as he finishes telling a story. "No idea why his first thought was to throw a brick at his neighbor's house, but he got in a lot of trouble once it went through my window instead of hitting the guy's wall."

"Wow, sounds like that guy literally couldn't hit the side of a barn if he tried." I joke. That makes him smile.

"Probably not." He says as he reaches for the cup. "So, after this you're gonna start with the medical notes thing, right?"

"I thought today was a therapy session-?" I ask as I reach for my own cup, although I'm not planning on drinking any of the tea.

"Nah, you wanted to make sure you had the right information in case I get hurt or something, remember?" Sabre explains, then blows on his tea to cool it down.

"Oh, that's right..." I mumble. "Sorry, I've been a bit scatterbrained today. Don't know why."

"It's fine, man. Everyone has off days." He chuckles. "Like, just yesterday I almost poured my coffee down the drain because I was on autopilot."

I chuckle at that, remembering some of the odd times similar things have happened. I start to feel more and more guilty as we talk about some of our past meetups, and avoid eye contact as Sabre sips his tea.

I keep glancing out the window, hoping that maybe, just maybe he'll have called this off.

"You being stalked by raccoons or something, dude?"

I turn back to face Sabre with a confused look.

"What?"

"You keep looking out the window like you expect something to show up." Sabre laughs.

"Oh, uh... there was a spider there earlier, and when I turned around to grab something to squish it, it disappeared."

"Oh, yikes. I get that."

Sabre suddenly yawns, then mumbles something about staying up late.

"You're doing that again?" I ask, hiding the guilt that keeps growing.

"Eh... yeah. Mostly just because I keep getting paranoid when I hear something." He replies.

"That's fair, knowing what's going on in the Kingdom right now, but please..."

I hold back tears as I notice him getting more and more tired.

"...Try to take care of yourself, okay?"

"Yeah, I know..." Sabre says quietly. "H-Hey Green? Did y-you..."

Sabre starts to use the table to support himself, placing his tea down. I just stare at the cup in my hands as I feel tears roll down my face.

It's not long before he's almost slumped over, shakily using one arm to support himself as he tries to stand up, barely conscious. He looks at me with hurt in his eyes.

"...I'm sorry." I whisper as I start to cry. "I just... I can't lose another one..."

Soon after, his eyes start to glaze over and he tries to stand one last time, but he ends up collapsing on the floor as he falls unconscious. The teacup he placed down is swiped off the table by his arm as he falls, it shattering as soon as it hits the floor.

I only keep staring down at my hands grasping the cup as I cry.

Everything feels numb. Like none of it should be real.

...But it is. It's a reality I made.

I jump when an armored hand places on my shoulder. Glancing out of the corner of my eye, it's... him.

Sol.

"You did good." Sol says to me as I go back to staring at my hands. "Don't worry, he'll just be taken to our hideout. We won't do anything unless the Colorless Guard try something."

"...And?" I say quietly.

"And what?" Sol asks as he takes his hand off my shoulder.

"Are you going to release him now...?"

"Ah, right. Your friend." Sol replies. "Well..."

"Not quite yet."

Before I can process it, I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head, and everything goes black.